1. Deriving the intrinsic properties of M51 with radiative transfer models.
- Author
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Inman, Christopher J, Popescu, Cristina C, Rushton, Mark T, and Murphy, David
- Subjects
- *
RADIATIVE transfer , *GALACTIC evolution , *SPECTRAL energy distribution , *ASTRONOMICAL surveys - Abstract
A quantitative derivation of the intrinsic properties of galaxies related to their fundamental building blocks, gas, dust, and stars is essential for our understanding of galaxy evolution. A fully self-consistent derivation of these properties can be achieved with radiative transfer (RT) methods that are constrained by panchromatic imaging observations. Here, we present an axi-symmetric RT model of the UV-optical-FIR/submm spectral and spatial energy distribution of the face-on spiral galaxy M51. The model reproduces reasonably well the azimuthally averaged radial profiles derived from the imaging data available for this galaxy, from GALEX , Sloan Digital Sky Survey, 2MASS, Spitzer , and Herschel. We model the galaxy with three distinct morphological components: a bulge, an inner disc, and a main disc. We derive the length parameters of the stellar emissivity and of the dust distribution. We also derive the intrinsic global and spatially resolved parameters of M51. We find a faint 'outer disc' bridging M51 with its companion galaxy M51b. Finally, we present and discuss an alternative model, with dust properties that change within the galaxy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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