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We combine Herschel/SPIRE submillimetre (submm) observations with existing multiwavelength data to investigate the characteristics of low-redshift, optically red galaxies detected in submm bands. We select a sample of galaxies in the redshift range 0.01 ≤ z ≤ 0.2, having >5σ detections in the SPIRE 250 µm submm waveband. Sources are then divided into two sub-samples of red and blue galaxies, based on their UV-optical colours. Galaxies in the red sample account for ≈4.2 per cent of the total number of sources with stellar masses M∗ ≳ 1010 M⊙. Following visual classification of the red galaxies, we find that ≳30 per cent of them are early-type galaxies and ≳40 per cent are spirals. The colour of the red-spiral galaxies could be the result of their highly inclined orientation and/or a strong contribution of the old stellar population. It is found that irrespective of their morphological types, red and blue sources occupy environments with more or less similar densities (i.e. the Σ5 parameter). From the analysis of the spectral energy distributions of galaxies in our samples based on MAGPHYS, we find that galaxies in the red sample (of any morphological type) have dust masses similar to those in the blue sample (i.e. normal spiral/star-forming systems). However, in comparison to the red-spirals and in particular blue systems, red-ellipticals have lower mean dust-to-stellar mass ratios. Besides galaxies in the red-elliptical sample have much lower mean star formation/specific star formation rates in contrast to their counterparts in the blue sample. Our results support a scenario where dust in early-type systems is likely to be of an external origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present two large, nearby (0.013 ≤ z ≤ 0.06) samples of early-type galaxies (ETGs): a visually classified sample of 220 ETGs, created using source-matched data from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) data base with far-infrared/submm detections from Herschel-Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS); and a visually classified sample of 551 ETGs which are undetected with H-ATLAS. Active galactic nuclei are removed from our samples using optical emission-line diagnostics. These samples are scrutinized to determine characteristics of submm detected versus undetected ETGs. We find similarities in the stellar mass distributions of the two ETG samples but testing other properties uncovers significant differences. The submm detected sample is shown to have lower concentration and Sérsic indices than those in the undetected sample – a result which may be linked to the presence of dust in the former. Optical and ultraviolet–optical colours are also shown to be much bluer, indicating that the dust is linked with recent star formation. The intrinsic effective radii are on average 1.5 times larger for the submm detected ETGs. Surface densities and groups data from the GAMA data base are examined for the two samples, leading to the conclusion that dusty ETGs inhabit sparser environments than non-dusty ETGs in the nearby Universe, although environments of the brightest ETGs are shown to differ the least. Modified Planck functions are fit to the H-ATLAS detected Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) and Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) fluxes for ETGs with submm flux densities of at least 3σ in the 350 μm SPIRE band, giving a resultant mean cold dust temperature of Td = 22.1 K, with a range of 9–30 K. The corresponding mean dust mass is 1.8 × 107 M⊙, with a range of (0.08–35.0) × 107 M⊙. The dust masses calculated from these fits, normalized by stellar mass, are shown to increase with decreasing stellar mass and bluer colours. Based on visual classifications of elliptical and lenticular, we find similar dust properties for these two early-type morphologies. We conclude that there is a population of elliptical galaxies which exhibit larger dust masses, lower Sérsic index and bluer colours than the more well-known, massive, red population of ellipticals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the discovery of a well-defined correlation between B-band face-on central optical depth due to dust, τ f , and the stellar mass surface density, μ", of nearby (z ⩽ 0.13) spiral galaxies: log(τ B , and the stellar mass surface density, μ", of nearby (z ⩽ 0.13) spiral galaxies: log(τ f) - 8.6(±0.8). This relation was derived from a sample of spiral galaxies taken from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey, which were detected in the FIR/submillimeter (submm) in the Herschel- ATLAS science demonstration phase field. Using a quantitative analysis of the NUV attenuation-inclination relation for complete samples of GAMA spirals categorized according to stellar mass surface density, we demonstrate that this correlation can be used to statistically correct for dust attenuation purely on the basis of optical photometry and Sérsic-profile morphological fits. Considered together with previously established empirical relationships of stellar mass to metallicity and gas mass, the near linearity and high constant of proportionality of the τ B ) = 1.12(±0.11) . log(μ"/M☉ kpc-2 -μ" relation in conjunction with the radiation transfer model for spiral galaxies of Popescu & Tuffs to derive intrinsic scaling relations between specific star formation rate (SFR), stellar mass, and stellar surface density, in which attenuation of the UV light used for the measurement of SFR is corrected on an object-to-object basis. A marked reduction in scatter in these relations is achieved which we demonstrate is due to correction of both the inclination-dependent and face-on components of attenuation. Our results are consistent with a general picture of spiral galaxies in which most of the submm emission originates from grains residing in translucent structures, exposed to UV in the diffuse interstellar radiation field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]f B -μ" relation disfavors a stellar origin for the bulk of refractory grains in spiral galaxies, instead being consistent with the existence of a ubiquitous and very rapid mechanism for the growth of dust in the interstellar medium. We use the τ f B -μ" relation in conjunction with the radiation transfer model for spiral galaxies of Popescu & Tuffs to derive intrinsic scaling relations between specific star formation rate (SFR), stellar mass, and stellar surface density, in which attenuation of the UV light used for the measurement of SFR is corrected on an object-to-object basis. A marked reduction in scatter in these relations is achieved which we demonstrate is due to correction of both the inclination-dependent and face-on components of attenuation. Our results are consistent with a general picture of spiral galaxies in which most of the submm emission originates from grains residing in translucent structures, exposed to UV in the diffuse interstellar radiation field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]