Search

The improved sensitivity of interferometric facilities to the 21-cm line of atomic hydrogen (HI) enables studies of its properties in galaxies beyond the local Universe. In this work, we perform a 21 cm line spectral stacking analysis combining the MIGHTEE and CHILES surveys in the COSMOS field to derive a robust HI-stellar mass relation at z=0.36. In particular, by stacking thousands of star-forming galaxies subdivided into stellar mass bins, we optimize the signal-to-noise ratio of targets and derive mean HI masses in the different stellar mass intervals for the investigated galaxy population. We combine spectra from the two surveys, estimate HI masses, and derive the scaling relation log10(MHI) = (0.32 +- 0.04)log10(M*) + (6.65 +- 0.36). Our findings indicate that galaxies at z=0.36 are HI richer than those at z=0, but HI poorer than those at z=1, with a slope consistent across redshift, suggesting that stellar mass does not significantly affect HI exchange mechanisms. We also observe a slower growth rate HI relative to the molecular gas, supporting the idea that the accretion of cold gas is slower than the rate of consumption of molecular gas to form stars. This study contributes to understanding the role of atomic gas in galaxy evolution and sets the stage for future development of the field in the upcoming SKA era., Comment: 23 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Context. The UVJ color-color diagram is a widely used diagnostic to separate star-forming and quiescent galaxies. Observational data from photometric surveys reveal a strong stellar mass trend, with higher-mass star-forming galaxies being systematically more dust-reddened. Aims. We analyze the UVJ diagram in the TNG100 cosmological simulation at cosmic noon ($z\approx2$). Specifically, we focus on the trend between UVJ colors and mass which has not been reproduced in any cosmological simulation thus far. Methods. We applied the SKIRT dust radiative transfer code to the TNG100 simulation to generate rest-frame UVJ fluxes. These UVJ colors were then compared to observational data from several well-studied extragalactic fields from the CANDELS/3D-HST programs, augmented by recent JWST/NIRCam photometry. Results. Quiescent and low-mass ($M_\star\lesssim10^{10.5}\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$) galaxies at cosmic noon do not require significant levels of dust reddening, as opposed to massive ($M_\star\gtrsim10^{11}\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$) star-forming galaxies. An extensive range of possible dust models fall short of the required dust reddening in V-J color for massive star-forming galaxies, with the simulated galaxies being too blue by $\approx0.9\,\mathrm{mag}$. Conclusions. We find that only variations in the star-to-dust geometries of the simulated galaxies can yield V-J colors that are red enough to match the observations. A toy model with isolated dust screens around younger stellar populations (with ages below $\sim1\,\mathrm{Gyr}$) can reproduce the observational data, while all conventional dust radiative transfer models (where the dust distribution follows the metals in the interstellar medium) fail to achieve the required V-J colors., Comment: Main text 17 pages, 12 figures. Accepted to A&A. Our analysis is publicly available at https://github.com/andreagebek/TNG100_UVJ

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is unveiling the rest-frame near-IR structure of galaxies. We measure the evolution with redshift of the rest-frame optical and near-IR S\'ersic index ($n$), and examine the dependence on stellar mass and star-formation activity across the redshift range $0.5\leq z\leq2.5$. We infer rest-frame near-IR S\'ersic profiles for $\approx 15.000$ galaxies in publicly available NIRCam imaging mosaics from the COSMOS-Web and PRIMER surveys. We augment these with rest-frame optical S\'ersic indices, previously measured from HST imaging mosaics. The median S\'ersic index evolves slowly or not at all with redshift, except for very high-mass galaxies ($M_\star > 10^{11}~{\text{M}}_\odot$), which show an increase from $n\approx 2.5$ to $n\approx 4$ at $z<1$. High-mass galaxies have higher $n$ than lower-mass galaxies ($M_\star=10^{9.5}~{\text{M}}_\odot$) at all redshifts, with a stronger dependence in the rest-frame near-IR than in the rest-frame optical at $z>1$. This wavelength dependence is caused by star-forming galaxies that have lower optical than near-IR $n$ at z>1 (but not at z<1). Both at optical and near-IR wavelengths, star-forming galaxies have lower $n$ than quiescent galaxies, fortifying the connection between star-formation activity and radial stellar mass distribution. At $z>1$ the median near-IR $n$ varies strongly with star formation activity, but not with stellar mass. The scatter in near-IR $n$ is higher in the green valley (0.25 dex) than on the star-forming sequence and among quiescent galaxies (0.18 dex) -- this trend is not seen in the optical because dust and young stars contribute to the variety in optical light profiles. Our newly measured rest-frame near-IR radial light profiles motivate future comparisons with radial stellar mass profiles of simulated galaxies as a stringent constraint on processes that govern galaxy formation., Comment: Accepted for publication on A&A

The VLT Survey Telescope Survey of Mass Assembly and Structural Hierarchy (VST-SMASH) aims to detect tidal features and remnants around very nearby galaxies, a unique and essential diagnostic of the hierarchical nature of galaxy formation. Leveraging optimal sky conditions at ESO's Paranal Observatory, combined with the VST's multi-band optical filters, VST-SMASH aims to be the definitive survey of stellar streams and tidal remnants in the Local Volume, targeting a low surface-brightness limit of $\mu \sim$ 30 mag arcsec$^{-2}$ in the g and r bands, and $\mu \sim$ 28 mag arcsec$^{-2}$ in the i band, in a volume-limited sample of local galaxies within 11 Mpc and the Euclid footprint., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, published in the ESO Messenger 193

Current galaxy formation simulations often approximate star-formation, necessitating models of star-forming regions to produce observables. In the first paper of the series, we introduced TODDLERS, a time-resolved model of UV-mm emission from star-forming regions implemented in the radiative transfer code SKIRT. This work uses SKIRT-TODDLERS to produce synthetic observations, demonstrating its potential through observables related to star-formation and comparing results with existing models in SKIRT. We calculate broadband and line emission maps for 30 Milky Way-like galaxies from the Auriga simulation at z=0. Analyzing FUV and IR data, we calculate kpc-resolved IR correction factors (k_IR), quantifying the ratio of FUV luminosity absorbed by dust to reprocessed IR luminosity. We use IR maps to calculate kpc-scale MIR (8 micron / 24 micron) and FIR (70 micron / 500 micron) colors. H alpha and H beta line maps are used to study the Balmer decrement and dust correction. We also verify the fidelity of our model FIR fine structure lines as SFR indicators. We find that the Auriga integrated UV-mm SEDs show higher FUV/NUV attenuation and lower 24 micron emission when using TODDLERS instead of the existing models in SKIRT, alleviating tensions with observations. The light-weighted mean k_IR increases with aperture and inclination, while its correlation with kpc-resolved sSFR is weaker than literature values. Kpc-scale MIR-FIR colors agree excellently with local observations, with anti-correlation degree varying by galaxy morphology. The Balmer decrement effectively corrects for dust, with attenuation law varying with dust amount. H alpha emission attenuation levels are comparable to high-density regions in state-of-the-art simulations. FIR fine-structure line emission-based luminosity-SFR relations align with global observations, [CII] showing best agreement., Comment: 22 pages, 20 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics on October 21, 2024

Cold gas and dust reprocess the X-ray emission of active galactic nuclei (AGN), producing spectro-polarimetric features in the X-ray band. The recent launch of IXPE allows for observations of this X-ray polarisation signal, encoding unique information on the circumnuclear medium of AGN. However, the models for interpreting these polarimetric data are under-explored and do not reach the same level of sophistication as the corresponding spectral models. We aim at closing the gap between the spectral and spectro-polarimetric modelling of AGN circumnuclear media by providing the tools for simulating X-ray polarisation in complex 3D transfer media alongside X-ray spectra. We lay out the framework for X-ray polarisation in 3D radiative transfer simulations and provide an implementation to the 3D radiative transfer code SKIRT, focussing on (de)polarisation due to scattering and fluorescent re-emission. As a first application, we studied a 2D toroidal reprocessor of cold gas, modelling the AGN circumnuclear medium. For the 2D torus model, we find a complex behaviour of the polarisation angle with photon energy, which we interpret as a balance between the reprocessed photon flux originating from different sky regions, with a direct link to the torus geometry. We calculated a large grid of AGN torus models and demonstrated how spatially resolved polarisation maps could form a useful tool for interpreting the geometrical information that is encoded in IXPE observations. With this work, we release high-resolution AGN torus templates that simultaneously describe X-ray spectra and spectro-polarimetry, for observational data fitting with XSPEC. The SKIRT code can now model X-ray polarisation simultaneously with X-ray spectra and provide synthetic spectro-polarimetric observations for complex 3D circumnuclear media, with all features of the established SKIRT framework available., Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

We present new JWST observations of the nearby, prototypical edge-on, spiral galaxy NGC 891. The northern half of the disk was observed with NIRCam in its F150W and F277W filters. Absorption is clearly visible in the mid-plane of the F150W image, along with vertical dusty plumes that closely resemble the ones seen in the optical. A $\sim 10 \times 3~{\rm kpc}^2$ area of the lower circumgalactic medium (CGM) was mapped with MIRI F770W at 12 pc scales. Thanks to the sensitivity and resolution of JWST, we detect dust emission out to $\sim 4$ kpc from the disk, in the form of filaments, arcs, and super-bubbles. Some of these filaments can be traced back to regions with recent star formation activity, suggesting that feedback-driven galactic winds play an important role in regulating baryonic cycling. The presence of dust at these altitudes raises questions about the transport mechanisms at play and suggests that small dust grains are able to survive for several tens of million years after having been ejected by galactic winds in the disk-halo interface. We lay out several scenarios that could explain this emission: dust grains may be shielded in the outer layers of cool dense clouds expelled from the galaxy disk, and/or the emission comes from the mixing layers around these cool clumps where material from the hot gas is able to cool down and mix with these cool cloudlets. This first set of data and upcoming spectroscopy will be very helpful to understand the survival of dust grains in energetic environments, and their contribution to recycling baryonic material in the mid-plane of galaxies., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics; 16 pages, 8 figures

Context. 3D numerical simulations of radiative transfer are crucial for understanding complex astrophysical objects. For Monte Carlo radiative transfer, the spatial grid design is critical yet complex. Common grids include hierarchical octree and unstructured Voronoi grids, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Tetrahedral grids, widely used in ray-tracing graphics, are a potential alternative. Aims. We explore the possibilities, advantages, and limitations of tetrahedral grids for Monte Carlo radiative transfer, comparing their performance with other grid structures. Method. We integrated a tetrahedral grid structure, using the TetGen library, into the SKIRT Monte Carlo radiative transfer code. Tetrahedral grids can be imported or adaptively constructed and refined within SKIRT. We implemented an efficient grid traversal method using Pl\"ucker coordinates and Pl\"ucker products. Results. We validated the tetrahedral grid construction and traversal algorithm with 2D radiative transfer benchmarks. In a simple 3D model, we compared the performance of tetrahedral, octree, and Voronoi grids. The octree grid outperformed the others in traversal speed, while the tetrahedral grid had the lowest grid quality. Overall, tetrahedral grids performed worse than octree and Voronoi grids. Conclusion. While tetrahedral grids may not be ideal for most astrophysical simulations, they offer a viable unstructured alternative to Voronoi grids for specific applications, such as post-processing hydrodynamical simulations on tetrahedral or unstructured grids., Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, abstract was shortened to fit the arxiv abstract requirements, article is accepted to Astronomy & Astrophysics (in production)

We present the galaxy stellar mass - size relation in the rest-frame near-IR ($1.5~\mu{\text{m}}$) and its evolution with redshift up to $z=2.5$. S\'ersic profiles are measured for $\sim$ $26\,000$ galaxies with stellar masses $M_\star > 10^9~{\text{M}}_\odot$ from JWST/NIRCam F277W and F444W imaging provided by the COSMOS-WEB and PRIMER surveys, using coordinates, redshifts, colors and stellar mass estimates from the COSMOS2020 catalog. The new rest-frame near-IR effective radii are generally smaller than previously measured rest-frame optical sizes, on average by 0.14~dex, with no significant dependence on redshift. For quiescent galaxies this size offset does not depend on stellar mass, but for star-forming galaxies the offset increases from -0.1~dex at $M_\star = 10^{9.5}~{\text{M}}_\odot$ to -0.25~dex at $M_\star > 10^{11}~{\text{M}}_\odot$. That is, we find that the near-IR stellar mass - size relation for star-forming galaxies is flatter in the rest-frame near-IR than in the rest-frame optical at all redshifts $0.510^{11}~{\text{M}}_\odot$) star-forming galaxies evolve in size almost as fast as quiescent galaxies. Low-mass ($M_\star<10^{10}~{\text{M}}_\odot$)~quiescent galaxies evolve as slow as star-forming galaxies. Our main conclusion is that the size evolution narrative as it has emerged over the past two decades does not radically change when accessing with JWST the rest-frame near-IR, a better proxy of the underlying stellar mass distribution., Comment: Accepted for publication. V2: includes a new table (table 1) of the data produced and available in machine-readable format on the journal version of the article

We present a new step in our systematic effort to develop self-consistent dynamical models with a finite radial extent. The focus is on models with simple analytical density profiles allowing for analytical calculations of many dynamical properties. In this paper, we introduce a family of models, termed Wendland models, based on compactly supported radial basis functions. The family of models is characterised by a parameter $k$ that controls the smoothness of the transition at the truncation radius. In the limit $k\to\infty$, the Wendland model reduces to a non-truncated model with a Gaussian density profile. For each Wendland model, the density, mass and gravitational potential are simple truncated polynomial functions of radius. Via the SpheCow tool we demonstrate that all Wendland models can be supported by isotropic distribution functions. Surprisingly, the isotropic distribution function exhibits varied behaviour across different Wendland models. Additionally, each model can be supported by a continuum of Osipkov--Merritt orbital structures, ranging from radially anisotropic to completely tangential at the truncation radius. To the best of our knowledge, the Wendland models presented here are the first family of models accommodating both radial and tangential Osipkov--Merritt distribution functions. Using linear superposition, these models can easily be combined to generate Wendland models with even more diverse orbital structures. While the Wendland models are not fully representative of real dynamical systems due to their Gaussian-like density profile, this study lays important groundwork for constructing more realistic models with truncated density profiles that can be supported by a range of orbital structures., Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting is one of most commonly used techniques to study the dust properties in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). Works implementing this technique commonly use radiative transfer models that assume a variety of dust properties. Despite the key role of this aspect, limited effort has been put forward to explore the chemical composition, the role of different optical properties, and the grain size distribution of dust, all of which can have a substantial impact on the theoretical radiative transfer calculations. In this work, we explore the role of the dust chemical composition in the AGN dusty torus through SED fitting to \emph{Spitzer}/IRS spectra of a sample of 49 nearby AGN with silicate features in emission. We implement a mineralogy model including the popular astronomical silicates and a set of oxides and amorphous silicates with different grain sizes. We find that best fits use principally porous alumina, periclase, and olivine. In terms of mass fractions, $\sim99\%$ of the dust is composed of dust grains of size $\rm{0.1 \mu m}$, with a $<1\%$ contribution from $\rm{3 \mu m}$ grains. Moreover, the astronomical silicates have a very low occurrence in the best fits, suggesting that they are not the most suited dust species to reproduce the silicate features in our sample., Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, Accepted by MNRAS

We apply the 3D dust radiative transfer code SKIRT to the low-redshift ($z\leq0.1$) galaxy population in the TNG100 cosmological simulation, the fiducial run of the IllustrisTNG project. We compute global fluxes and spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from the far-ultraviolet to the sub-millimeter for $\approx\,$60 000 galaxies. Our post-processing methodology follows the study of Tr\v{c}ka et al. (2022) of the higher-resolution TNG50 simulation. We verify that TNG100 reproduces observational luminosity functions at low redshifts to excellent precision, unlike TNG50. Additionally, we test the realism of our TNG100 plus SKIRT fluxes by comparing various flux and color relations to data from the GAMA survey. TNG100 broadly reproduces the observed distributions, but we predict ultraviolet colors that are too blue by $\approx\,$0.4 mag, possibly related to the extinction in the star-forming regions subgrid model not being selective enough. Furthermore, we find that the simulated galaxies exhibit mid-infrared fluxes elevated by up to $\approx\,$0.5 mag that we attribute to overly effective stochastic heating of the diffuse dust. All synthetic broadband fluxes and SEDs are made publicly available in three orientations and four apertures, and can readily be used to study TNG100 galaxies in a mock observational fashion., Comment: Main text 14 pages, 5 figures, accepted to MNRAS. Generated data products are publicly available at www.tng-project.org/gebek24

We present the first measurement of HI mass of star-forming galaxies in different large scale structure environments from a blind survey at $z\sim 0.37$. In particular, we carry out a spectral line stacking analysis considering $2875$ spectra of colour-selected star-forming galaxies undetected in HI at $0.23 < z < 0.49$ in the COSMOS field, extracted from the MIGHTEE-HI Early Science datacubes, acquired with the MeerKAT radio telescope. We stack galaxies belonging to different subsamples depending on three different definitions of large scale structure environment: local galaxy overdensity, position inside the host dark matter halo (central, satellite, or isolated), and cosmic web type (field, filament, or knot). We first stack the full star-forming galaxy sample and find a robust HI detection yielding an average galaxy HI mass of $M_{\rm HI}=(8.12\pm 0.75)\times 10^9\, {\rm M}_\odot$ at $\sim 11.8\sigma$. Next, we investigate the different subsamples finding a negligible difference in $M_{\rm HI}$ as a function of the galaxy overdensity. We report an HI excess compared to the full sample in satellite galaxies ($M_{\rm HI}=(11.31\pm1.22)\times 10^9$, at $\sim 10.2 \sigma$) and in filaments ($M_{\rm HI}=(11.62\pm 0.90)\times 10^9$. Conversely, we report non-detections for the central and knot galaxies subsamples, which appear to be HI-deficient. We find the same qualitative results also when stacking in units of HI fraction ($f_{\rm HI}$). We conclude that the HI amount in star-forming galaxies at the studied redshifts correlates with the large scale structure environment., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 15 figures, 3 tables

We aim to provide observational signatures of the dust size evolution in the ISM. In particular, we explore indicators of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) mass fraction ($q_{PAH}$), defined as the mass fraction of PAHs relative to total dust grains. In addition, we validate our dust evolution model by comparing the observational signatures from our simulations to observations. We used the hydrodynamic simulation code, GADGET4-OSAKA to model the dust properties of Milky Way-like and NGC 628-like galaxies representing star-forming galaxies. This code incorporates the evolution of grain size distributions driven by dust production and interstellar processing. Furthermore, we performed post-processing dust radiative transfer with SKIRT based on the simulations to predict the observational properties. We find that the intensity ratio between 8 um and 24 um is correlated with $q_{PAH}$ and can be used as an indicator of PAH mass fraction. However, this ratio is influenced by the radiation field. We suggest the 8 um-to-total infrared intensity ratio ($\nu I_\nu(8 \mu m)/I$(TIR)) as another indicator, since it is tightly correlated with $q_{PAH}$. Furthermore, we explored the spatially resolved $q_{PAH}$ in the simulated Milky Way-like galaxy using $\nu I_\nu(8 \mu m)/I$(TIR). We find that the spatially resolved $q_{PAH}$ increases with metallicity at metallicity at Z<0.2 Zsun due to the interplay between accretion and shattering while it decreases at Z>0.2 Zsun because of coagulation. Finally, we compared the above indicators in the NGC 628-like simulation with those observed in NGC 628 by recent observations. Consequently, we find that our simulation underestimates the PAH mass fraction throughout the entire galaxy by a factor of $\sim 8$ on average. This could be due to the efficient loss of PAHs by coagulation in our model., Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, accepted by A&A

Galaxy sizes correlate with many other important properties of galaxies, and the cosmic evolution of galaxy sizes is an important observational diagnostic for constraining galaxy evolution models. The effective radius is probably the most widely used indicator of galaxy size. We used the TNG50-SKIRT Atlas to investigate the wavelength dependence of the effective radius of galaxies at optical and near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths. We find that, on average, the effective radius in every band exceeds the stellar mass effective radius, and that this excess systematically decreases with increasing wavelength. The optical g-band (NIR Ks-band) effective radius is on average 58% (13%) larger than the stellar mass effective radius. Effective radii measured from dust-obscured images are systematically larger than those measured from dust-free images, although the effect is limited (8.7% in the g-band, 2.1% in the Ks-band). We find that stellar population gradients are the dominant factor (about 80%) in driving the wavelength dependence of the effective radius, and that differential dust attenuation is a secondary factor (20%). Comparing our results to recent observational data, we find offsets in the absolute values of the median effective radii, up to 50% for the population of blue galaxies. We find better agreement in the slope of the wavelength dependence of the effective radius, with red galaxies having a slightly steeper slope than green-blue galaxies. Comparing our effective radii with those of galaxies from the Siena Galaxy Atlas in separate bins in z-band absolute magnitude and g-z colour, we find excellent agreement for the reddest galaxies, but again significant offsets for the blue populations: up to 70% for galaxies around Mz=-21.5. This difference in median effective radius for the bluer galaxies is most probably due to (abridged...)., Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

Galaxy morphology is a powerful diagnostic to assess the realism of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. Determining the morphology of simulated galaxies requires the generation of synthetic images through 3D radiative transfer post-processing that properly accounts for different stellar populations and interstellar dust attenuation. We use the SKIRT code to generate the TNG50-SKIRT Atlas, a synthetic UV to near-infrared broadband image atlas for a complete stellar-mass selected sample of 1154 galaxies extracted from the TNG50 cosmological simulation at $z=0$. The images have a high spatial resolution (100 pc) and a wide field of view (160 kpc). In addition to the dust-obscured images, we also release dust-free images and physical parameter property maps with matching characteristics. As a sanity check and preview application we discuss the UVJ diagram of the galaxy sample. We investigate the effect of dust attenuation on the UVJ diagram and find that it affects both the star-forming and the quiescent galaxy populations. The quiescent galaxy region is polluted by younger and star-forming highly inclined galaxies, while dust attenuation induces a separation in inclination of the star-forming galaxy population, with low-inclination galaxies remaining at the blue side of the diagram and high-inclination galaxies systematically moving towards the red side. This image atlas can be used for a variety of other applications, including galaxy morphology studies and the investigation of local scaling relations. We publicly release the images and parameter maps, and we invite the community to use them., Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

We present the discovery of the most distant OH megamaser to be observed in the main lines, using data from the MeerKAT International Giga-Hertz Tiered Extragalactic Exploration (MIGHTEE) survey. At a newly measured redshift of $z = 0.7092$, the system has strong emission in both the 1665MHz ($L \approx 2500$ L$_{\odot}$) and 1667 MHz ($L \approx 4.5\times10^4$ L$_{\odot}$) transitions, with both narrow and broad components. We interpret the broad line as a high-velocity-dispersion component of the 1667 MHz transition, with velocity $v \sim 330$km s$^{-1}$ with respect to the systemic velocity. The host galaxy has a stellar mass of $M_{\star} = 2.95 \times 10^{10}$ M$_{\odot}$ and a star-formation rate of SFR = 371 M$_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$, placing it $\sim 1.5$dex above the main sequence for star-forming galaxies at this redshift, and can be classified as an ultra-luminous infrared galaxy. Alongside the optical imaging data, which exhibits evidence for a tidal tail, this suggests that the OH megamaser arises from a system that is currently undergoing a merger, which is stimulating star formation and providing the necessary conditions for pumping the OH molecule to saturation. The OHM is likely to be lensed, with a magnification factor of $\sim 2.5$, and perhaps more if the maser emitting region is compact and suitably offset relative to the centroid of its host galaxy's optical light. This discovery demonstrates that spectral line mapping with the new generation of radio interferometers may provide important information on the cosmic merger history of galaxies., Comment: 11 pages, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present and publicly release a new star-forming regions emission library TODDLERS (Time evolution of Observables including Dust Diagnostics and Line Emission from Regions containing young Stars) for the publicly available radiative transfer code SKIRT. The library generation involves the spherical evolution of a homogeneous gas cloud around a young stellar cluster that accounts for stellar feedback processes including stellar winds, supernovae, and radiation pressure, as well as the gravitational forces on the gas. The semi-analytical evolution model is coupled with the photoionization code Cloudy to calculate time-dependent UV-mm spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from star-forming regions of varying metallicity, star-formation efficiency, birth-cloud density, and mass. The calculated SEDs include the stellar, nebular, and dust continuum emission along with a wide range of emission lines originating from H ii, photo-dissociation, and molecular gas regimes tabulated at high resolution. The SEDs incorporated in SKIRT are generated by calculating a stellar-mass normalized luminosity, which assumes that each emission source is composed of a power-law population of star-forming clouds. When compared to the previous treatment of star-forming regions in SKIRT, TODDLERS shows a better agreement with low-redshift observational data in the IR wavelength range while offering a more comprehensive line-emission support. This paves the way for a variety of applications using simulated galaxies at low and high redshift., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS on 27/09/23

The presence of dust in spiral galaxies affects the ability of photometric decompositions to retrieve the parameters of their main structural components. For galaxies in an edge-on orientation, the optical depth integrated over the line-of-sight is significantly higher than for those with intermediate or face-on inclinations, so it is only natural to expect that for edge-on galaxies, dust attenuation should severely influence measured structural parameters. In this paper, we use radiative transfer simulations to generate a set of synthetic images of edge-on galaxies which are then analysed via decomposition. Our results demonstrate that for edge-on galaxies, the observed systematic errors of the fit parameters are significantly higher than for moderately inclined galaxies. Even for models with a relatively low dust content, all structural parameters suffer offsets that are far from negligible. In our search for ways to reduce the impact of dust on retrieved structural parameters, we test several approaches, including various masking methods and an analytical model that incorporates dust absorption. We show that using such techniques greatly improves the reliability of decompositions for edge-on galaxies., Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures

We introduce Monte Carlo-based non-LTE line radiative transfer calculations in the 3D dust radiative transfer code SKIRT, which was originally set up as a dust radiative transfer code. By doing so, we develop a generic and powerful 3D radiative transfer code that can self-consistently generate spectra with molecular and atomic lines against the underlying continuum. We test the accuracy of the non-LTE line radiative transfer module in the extended SKIRT code using standard benchmarks. We find excellent agreement between the SKIRT results, the published benchmark results, and results obtained using the ray-tracing non-LTE line radiative transfer code MAGRITTE, which validates our implementation. We apply the extended SKIRT code on a 3D hydrodynamic simulation of a dusty AGN torus model and generate multi-wavelength images with CO rotational-line spectra against the underlying dust continuum. We find that the low-J CO emission traces the geometrically thick molecular torus, whereas the higher-J CO lines originate from the gas with high kinetic temperature located in the innermost regions of the torus. Comparing the calculations with and without dust radiative transfer, we find that higher-J CO lines are slightly attenuated by the surrounding cold dust when seen edge-on. This shows that atomic and molecular lines can experience attenuation, an effect that is particularly important for transitions at mid- and near-infrared wavelengths. Therefore, our self-consistent dust and non-LTE line radiative transfer calculations can help interpret the observational data from Herschel, ALMA, and JWST., Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in A&A

We examine the wavelength dependence of radial light profiles based on S\'ersic index $n$ measurements of 1067 galaxies with M$_*\geq$ 10$^{9.5}$M$_\odot$ and in the redshift range $0.5 < z < 3$. The sample and rest-frame optical light profiles are drawn from CANDELS$+$3D-HST; rest-frame near-infrared light profiles are inferred from CEERS JWST/NIRCam imaging. $n$ shows only weak dependence on wavelength, regardless of redshift, galaxy mass and type: on average, star-forming galaxies have $n = 1-1.5$ and quiescent galaxies have $n = 3-4$ in the rest-frame optical and near-infrared. The strong correlation at all wavelengths between $n$ and star-formation activity implies a physical connection between the radial stellar mass profile and star-formation activity. The main caveat is that the current sample is too small to discern trends for the most massive galaxies (M$_* > 10^{11}M_\odot$)., Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, Submitted to ApJ. Comments welcome

Fully analytical dynamical models usually have an infinite extent, while real star clusters, galaxies, and dark matter haloes have a finite extent. The standard method for generating dynamical models with a finite extent consists of taking a model with an infinite extent and applying a truncation in binding energy. This method, however, cannot be used to generate models with a pre-set analytical mass density profile. We investigate the self-consistency and dynamical properties of a family of power-law spheres with a general tangential Cuddeford (TC) orbital structure. By varying the density power-law slope $\gamma$ and the central anisotropy $\beta_0$, these models cover a wide parameter space in density and anisotropy profiles. We explicitly calculate the phase-space distribution function for various parameter combinations, and interpret our results in terms of the energy distribution of bound orbits. We find that truncated power-law spheres can be supported by a TC orbital structure if and only if $\gamma \geqslant 2\beta_0$, which means that the central density slope-anisotropy inequality is both a sufficient and a necessary condition for this family. We provide closed expressions for structural and dynamical properties such as the radial and tangential velocity dispersion profiles, which can be compared against more complex numerical modelling results. This work significantly adds to the available suite of self-consistent dynamical models with a finite extent and an analytical description., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present a framework to build realistic mock spectroscopic observations for state-of-the-art hydrodynamical simulations, using high spectral resolution stellar population models and full radiative transfer treatment with SKIRT. As a first application we generate stellar continuum mock observations for the Auriga cosmological zoom simulations emulating integral-field observations from the SAMI Galaxy survey. We perform spectral fitting on our synthetic cubes and compute the resulting rotation velocity ($V_{\rm{rot}}$) and velocity dispersion within 1$R_{\text{e}}$ ($\sigma_{\text{e}}$) for a sub-set of the Auriga sample. We find that the kinematics produced by Auriga are in good agreement with the observations from the SAMI Galaxy survey after taking into account the effects of dust and the systematics produced by the observation limitations. We also explore the effects of seeing convolution, inclination, and attenuation on the line-of-sight velocity distribution. For highly inclined galaxies, these effects can lead to an artificial decrease in the measured $V/\sigma$ by nearly a factor two (after inclination correction). We also demonstrate the utility of our method for high-redshift galaxies by emulating spatially resolved continuum spectra from the LEGA-C survey and, looking forward, E-ELT HARMONI. Our framework represents a crucial link between the ground truth for stellar populations and kinematics in simulations and the observed stellar continuum observations at low and high redshift., Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present the first measurement of the HI mass function (HIMF) using data from MeerKAT, based on 276 direct detections from the MIGHTEE Survey Early Science data covering a period of approximately a billion years ($0 \leq z \leq 0.084 $). This is the first HIMF measured using interferometric data over non-group or cluster field, i.e. a deep blank field. We constrain the parameters of the Schechter function which describes the HIMF with two different methods: $1/\rm V_{\rm max}$ and Modified Maximum Likelihood (MML). We find a low-mass slope $\alpha=-1.29^{+0.37}_{-0.26}$, `knee' mass $\log_{10}(M_{*}/{\rm M_{\odot}}) = 10.07^{+0.24}_{-0.24}$ and normalisation $\log_{10}(\phi_{*}/\rm Mpc^{-3})=-2.34^{+0.32}_{-0.36}$ ($H_0 = 67.4$ kms$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$) for $1/\rm V_{\rm max}$ and $\alpha=-1.44^{+0.13}_{-0.10}$, `knee' mass $\log_{10}(M_{*}/{\rm M_{\odot}}) = 10.22^{+0.10}_{-0.13}$ and normalisation $\log_{10}(\phi_{*}/\rm Mpc^{-3})=-2.52^{+0.19}_{-0.14}$ for MML. When using $1/\rm V_{\rm max}$ we find both the low-mass slope and `knee' mass to be consistent within $1\sigma$ with previous studies based on single-dish surveys. The cosmological mass density of HI is found to be slightly larger than previously reported: $\Omega_{\rm HI}=5.46^{+0.94}_{-0.99} \times 10^{-4}h^{-1}_{67.4}$ from $1/\rm V_{\rm max}$ and $\Omega_{\rm HI}=6.31^{+0.31}_{-0.31} \times 10^{-4}h^{-1}_{67.4}$ from MML but consistent within the uncertainties. We find no evidence for evolution of the HIMF over the last billion years., Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Models of active galactic nuclei (AGN) suggest that their circumnuclear media are complex with clumps and filaments, while recent observations hint towards polar extended structures of gas and dust, as opposed to the classical torus paradigm. The X-ray band forms an interesting window to study these circumnuclear media in great detail. In this work, we extended the radiative transfer code SKIRT with the X-ray processes that govern the broadband X-ray spectra of obscured AGN, to study the structure of AGN circumnuclear media in full 3D, based on their reflected X-ray emission. We extended the SKIRT code with Compton scattering on free electrons, photo-absorption and fluorescence by cold atomic gas, scattering on bound electrons, and extinction by dust. This includes a novel treatment of extreme-forward scattering by dust, and a detailed description of anomalous Rayleigh scattering. To verify our X-ray implementation, we performed the first dedicated benchmark of X-ray torus models, comparing five X-ray radiative transfer codes. Finally, we illustrated the 3D nature of the code by producing synthetic X-ray images and spectra of clumpy torus models. SKIRT forms a powerful new tool to model AGN circumnuclear media in full 3D from X-ray to millimetre wavelengths, and is now publicly available. In the X-ray regime, we find an excellent agreement with the simulation results of the MYTorus and RefleX codes, which validates our X-ray implementation. We find some discrepancies with other codes, which motivates the need for a robust framework that can handle non-linear 3D radiative transfer effects. The new X-ray functionalities of the SKIRT code allow for uncomplicated access to a broad suite of 3D X-ray models for AGN that can easily be tested and modified. This will be particularly useful with the advent of X-ray microcalorimeter observations., Comment: 20 pages, 20 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

The direct comparison between hydrodynamical simulations and observations is needed to improve the physics included in the former and test biases in the latter. Post-processing radiative transfer and synthetic observations are now the standard way to do this. We report on the first application of the \texttt{SKIRT} radiative transfer code to simulations of a star-forming cloud. The synthetic observations are then analyzed following traditional observational workflows. We find that in the early stages of the simulation, stellar radiation is inefficient in heating dust to the temperatures observed in Galactic clouds, thus the addition of an interstellar radiation field is necessary. The spectral energy distribution of the cloud settles rather quickly after $\sim3$ Myr of evolution from the onset of star formation, but its morphology continues to evolve for $\sim8$ Myr due to the expansion of \textsc{Hii} regions and the respective creation of cavities, filaments, and ridges. Modeling synthetic \textit{Herschel} fluxes with 1- or 2-component modified black bodies underestimates total dust masses by a factor of $\sim2$. Spatially-resolved fitting recovers up to about $70\%$ of the intrinsic value. This ``missing mass'' is located in a very cold dust component with temperatures below $10$ K, which does not contribute appreciably to the far-infrared flux. This effect could bias real observations if such dust exists in large amounts. Finally, we tested observational calibrations of the SFR based on infrared fluxes and concluded that they are in agreement when compared to the intrinsic SFR of the simulation averaged over $\sim100$ Myr.

The transformation and evolution of a galaxy is strongly influenced by interactions with its environment. Neutral hydrogen (\HI) is an excellent way to trace these interactions. Here, we present \HI\ observations of the spiral galaxy NGC~895, which was previously thought to be isolated. High-sensitivity \HI\ observations from the MeerKAT large survey project MIGHTEE reveal possible interaction features, such as extended spiral arms, and the two newly discovered \HI\ companions, that drive us to change the narrative that it is an isolated galaxy. We combine these observations with deep optical images from the Hyper Suprime Camera to show an absence of tidal debris between NGC 895 and its companions. We do find an excess of light in the outer parts of the companion galaxy MGTH$\_$J022138.1-052631 which could be an indication of external perturbation and thus possible sign of interactions. Our analysis shows that NGC~895 is an actively star-forming galaxy with a SFR of $\mathrm{1.75 \pm 0.09 [M_{\odot}/yr]}$, a value typical for high stellar mass galaxies on the star forming main sequence. It is reasonable to state that different mechanisms may have contributed to the observed features in NGC~895 and this emphasizes the need to revisit the target with more detailed observations. Our work shows the high potential and synergy of using state-of-the-art data in both \HI\ and optical to reveal a more complete picture of galaxy environments., Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Cold gas in galaxies provides a crucial test to evaluate the realism of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. To extract the atomic and molecular hydrogen properties of the simulated galaxy population, postprocessing methods taking the local UV field into account are required. We improve upon previous studies by calculating realistic UV fields with the dust radiative transfer code SKIRT to model the atomic-to-molecular transition in TNG50, the highest-resolution run of the IllustrisTNG suite. Comparing integrated quantities such as the HI mass function, we study to what detail the UV field needs to be modelled in order to calculate realistic cold gas properties. We then evaluate new, spatially resolved comparisons for cold gas in galaxies by exploring synthetic maps of atomic hydrogen at redshift zero and compare them to 21-cm observations of local galaxies from the WHISP survey. In terms of non-parametric morphologies, we find that TNG50 HI maps are less concentrated than their WHISP counterparts (median $\Delta C\approx0.3$), due in part to central HI deficits related to the ejective character of supermassive black hole feedback in TNG. In terms of the HI column density distribution function, we find discrepancies between WHISP and IllustrisTNG that depend on the total HI abundance in these datasets as well as the postprocessing method. To fully exploit the synergy between cosmological simulations and upcoming deep HI/H2 data, we advocate the use of accurate methods to estimate the UV radiation field and to generate mock maps., Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures (main text). Accepted to MNRAS

We present a nonparametric morphology analysis of the stellar continuum and nebular emission lines for a sample of local galaxies. We explore the dependence of the various morphological parameters on wavelength and morphological type. Our goal is to quantify the difference in morphology between the stellar and nebular components. We derive the nonparametric morphological indicators of 364 galaxies from the CALIFA Survey. To calculate those indicators, we apply the StatMorph package on the high-quality integral field spectroscopic data cubes, as well as to the most prominent nebular emission-line maps, namely [OIII]$\lambda$5007, H$\alpha$, and [NII]$\lambda$6583. We show that the physical size of galaxies, M$_{20}$ index, and concentration have a strong gradient from blue to red optical wavelengths. We find that the light distribution of the nebular emission is less concentrated than the stellar continuum. A comparison between the nonparametric indicators and the galaxy physical properties revealed a very strong correlation of the concentration with the specific star-formation rate and morphological type. Furthermore, we explore how the galaxy inclination affects our results. We find that edge-on galaxies show a more rapid change in physical size and concentration with increasing wavelength due to the increase in optical free path. We conclude that the apparent morphology of galaxies originates from the pure stellar distribution, but the morphology of the ISM presents differences with respect to the morphology of the stellar component. Our analysis also highlights the importance of dust attenuation and galaxy inclination in the measurement of nonparametric morphological indicators, especially in the the wavelength range 4000-5000 \r{A}.

Galaxies, dark matter haloes, and star clusters have a finite extent, yet most simple dynamical models have an infinite extent. The default method to generate dynamical models with a finite extent is to apply an energy truncation to the distribution function, but this approach is not suited to construct models with a preset density profile and it imposes unphysical constraints on the orbit population. We investigate whether it is possible to construct simple dynamical models for spherical systems with a preset density profile with a finite extent, and ideally with a different range of orbital structures. We systematically investigate the consistency of radially truncated dynamical models, and demonstrate that no spherical models with a discontinuous density truncation can be supported by an ergodic orbital structure. On the other hand, we argue that many radially truncated models can be supported by a tangential Osipkov-Merritt orbital structure that becomes completely tangential at the truncation radius. We formulate a consistency hypothesis for radially truncated models with such an orbital structure, and test it using an analytical example and the numerical exploration of a large model parameter space using the SpheCow code. We physically interpret our results in terms of the occupancy of bound orbits, and we discuss possible extensions of the tangential Osipkov-Merritt orbital structure that can support radially truncated models., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Dust emission from high-redshift galaxies gives us a clue to the origin and evolution of dust in the early Universe. Previous studies have shown that different sources of dust (stellar dust production and dust growth in dense clouds) predict different ultraviolet (UV) extinction curves for galaxies at $z\sim 7$ but that the observed attenuation curves depend strongly on the geometry of dust and star distributions. Thus, we perform radiative transfer calculations under the dust-stars geometries computed by a cosmological hydrodynamic simulation (IllustrisTNG). This serves to investigate the dust attenuation curves predicted from `realistic' geometries. We choose objects with stellar mass and star formation rate appropriate for Lyman break galaxies at $z\sim 7$. We find that the attenuation curves are very different from the original extinction curves in most of the galaxies. This makes it difficult to constrain the dominant dust sources from the observed attenuation curves. We further include infrared dust emission in the analysis and plot the infrared excess (IRX)-UV spectral slope ($\beta$) diagram. We find that different sources of dust cause different IRX-$\beta$ relations for the simulated galaxies. In particular, if dust growth is the main source of dust, a variation of dust-to-metal ratio causes a more extended sequence with smaller IRX in the IRX-$\beta$ diagram. Thus, the comprehensive analysis of the abundances of dust and metals, the UV slope, and the dust emission could provide a clue to the dominant dust sources in the Universe., Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We perform a homogeneous analysis of an unprecedented set of spatially resolved scaling relations (SRs) between ISM components and other properties in the range of scales 0.3-3.4 kpc. We also study some ratios: dust-to-stellar, dust-to-gas, and dust-to-metal. We use a sample of 18 large, spiral, face-on DustPedia galaxies. All the SRs are moderate/strong correlations except the dust-HI SR that does not exist or is weak for most galaxies. The SRs do not have a universal form but each galaxy is characterized by distinct correlations, affected by local processes and galaxy peculiarities. The SRs hold starting from 0.3 kpc, and if a breaking down scale exists it is < 0.3 kpc. By evaluating all galaxies at 3.4 kpc, differences due to peculiarities of individual galaxies are cancelled out and the corresponding SRs are consistent with those of whole galaxies. By comparing subgalactic and global scales, the most striking result emerges from the SRs involving ISM components: the dust-total gas SR is a good correlation at all scales, while the dust-H2 and dust-HI SRs are good correlations at subkpc/kpc and total scales, respectively. For the other explored SRs, there is a good agreement between small and global scales and this may support the picture where the main physical processes regulating the properties and evolution of galaxies occur locally. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis of self-regulation of the SF process. The analysis of subgalactic ratios shows that they are consistent with those derived for whole galaxies, from low to high z, supporting the idea that also these ratios could be set by local processes. Our results highlight the heterogeneity of galaxy properties and the importance of resolved studies on local galaxies in the context of galaxy evolution. They also provide observational constraints to theoretical models and updated references for high-z studies., Comment: 42 pages, 11 figures and 5 tables in the main text, 2 figures and 1 table in Appendix. Accepted for publication in A&A

We study the $M_{\rm HI}-M_{\star}$ relation over the last billion years using the MIGHTEE-HI sample. We first model the upper envelope of the $M_{\rm HI}-M_{\star}$ relation with a Bayesian technique applied to a total number of 249 HI-selected galaxies, without binning the datasets, while taking account of the intrinsic scatter. We fit the envelope with both linear and non-linear models, and find that the non-linear model is preferred over the linear one with a measured transition stellar mass of $\log_{10}(M_\star$/$M_{\odot})$ = $9.15\pm0.87$, beyond which the slope flattens. This finding supports the view that the lack of HI gas is ultimately responsible for the decreasing star formation rate observed in the massive main-sequence galaxies. For spirals alone, which are biased towards the massive galaxies in our sample, the slope beyond the transition mass is shallower than for the full sample, indicative of distinct gas processes ongoing for the spirals/high-mass galaxies from other types with lower stellar masses. We then create mock catalogues for the MIGHTEE-HI detections and non-detections with two main galaxy populations of late- and early-type galaxies to measure the underlying $M_{\rm HI}-M_{\star}$ relation. We find that the turnover in this relation persists whether considering the two galaxy populations as a whole or separately. We note that an underlying linear relation could mimic this turnover in the observed scaling relation, but a model with a turnover is strongly preferred. Measurements on the logarithmic average of HI masses against the stellar mass are provided as a benchmark for future studies., Comment: Revised manuscript accepted for publication in MNRAS

Context: The Einasto model has become one of the most popular models for describing the density profile of dark matter haloes. There have been relatively few comprehensive studies on the dynamical structure of the Einasto model, mainly because only a limited number of properties can be calculated analytically. Aims: We want to systematically investigate the photometric and dynamical structure of the family of Einasto models over the entire model parameter space. Methods: We used the SpheCow code to explore the properties of the Einasto model. We systematically investigated how the most important properties change as a function of the Einasto index $n$. We considered both isotropic models and radially anisotropic models with an Osipkov-Merritt orbital structure. Results: We find that all Einasto models with $n<\tfrac12$ have a formal isotropic or Osipkov-Merritt distribution function that is negative in parts of phase space, and hence cannot be supported by such orbital structures. On the other hand, all models with larger values of $n$ can be supported by an isotropic orbital structure, or by an Osipkov-Merritt anisotropy, as long as the anisotropy radius is larger than a critical value. This critical anisotropy radius is a decreasing function of $n$, indicating that less centrally concentrated models allow for a larger degree of radial anisotropy. Conclusions: Studies of the structure and dynamics of models for galaxies and dark matter haloes should not be restricted to completely analytical models. Numerical codes such as SpheCow can help open up the range of models that are systematically investigated. This applies to the Einasto model discussed here, but also to other proposed models for dark matter haloes, including different extensions to the Einasto model., Comment: 11 pages, accepted for publication in A&A

We apply the radiative transfer (RT) code SKIRT on a sample of ~14000 low-redshift (z<= 0.1) galaxies extracted from the TNG50 simulation to enable an apples-to-apples comparison with observations. The RT procedure is calibrated via comparison of a subsample of TNG50 galaxies with the DustPedia observational sample: we compare several luminosity and colour scaling relations and spectral energy distributions in different specific SFR bins. We consistently derive galaxy luminosity functions for the TNG50 simulation in 14 broadband filters from UV to submillimetre wavelengths and investigate the effects of the aperture, orientation, radiative transfer recipe, and numerical resolution. We find that, while our TNG50+RT fiducial model agrees well with the observed luminosity functions at the knee (+/- 0.04 dex typical agreement), the TNG50+RT luminosity functions evaluated within 5R_1/2 are generally higher than observed at both the faint and bright ends, by 0.004 (total IR)-0.27 (UKIDSS H) dex and 0.12 (SPIRE250)-0.8 (GALEX FUV) dex, respectively. A change in the aperture does affect the bright end of the luminosity function, easily by up to 1 dex depending on the choice. However, we also find that the galaxy luminosity functions of a worse-resolution run of TNG50 (TNG50-2, with 8 times worse mass resolution than TNG50, similar to TNG100) are in better quantitative agreement with observational constraints. Finally, we publicly release the photometry for the TNG50 sample in 53 broadbands from FUV to submillimetre, in three orientations and four apertures, as well as galaxy spectral energy distributions., Comment: The full galaxy SEDs and the broadband fluxes at z <= 0.1 are made available at https://www.tng- project.org/trcka22 The luminosity function plots are presented on http://luminosity-functions.herokuapp.com/

Context: The Monte Carlo method is probably the most widely used approach to solve the radiative transfer problem, especially in a general 3D geometry. The physical processes of emission, absorption, and scattering are easily incorporated in the Monte Carlo framework. Net stimulated emission, or absorption with a negative cross section, does not fit this method, however. Aims: We explore alterations to the standard photon packet life cycle in Monte Carlo radiative transfer that allow the treatment of net stimulated emission without loss of generality or efficiency. Methods: We present the explicit absorption technique that allows net stimulated emission to be handled efficiently. It uses the scattering rather than the extinction optical depth along a photon packet's path to randomly select the next interaction location, and offers a separate, deterministic treatment of absorption. We implemented the technique in a special-purpose Monte Carlo code for a two-stream 1D radiative transfer problem and in the fully featured 3D code SKIRT, and we studied its overall performance using quantitative statistical tests. Results: Our special-purpose code is capable of recovering the analytical solutions to the two-stream problem in all regimes, including the one of strong net stimulated emission. The implementation in SKIRT is straightforward, as the explicit absorption technique easily combines with the variance reduction and acceleration techniques already incorporated. In general, explicit absorption tends to improve the efficiency of the Monte Carlo routine in the regime of net absorption. Conclusions: Explicit absorption allows the treatment of net stimulated emission in Monte Carlo radiative transfer, it interfaces smoothly with... (abridged), Comment: 14 pages, accepted for publication in A&A

We present the first measurements of HI galaxy scaling relations from a blind survey at $z>0.15$. We perform spectral stacking of 9023 spectra of star-forming galaxies undetected in HI at $0.23

In this first paper in a series we present a study of the global dust emission distribution in nearby edge-on spiral galaxies. Our sample consists of 16 angularly large and 13 less spatially resolved galaxies selected from the DustPedia sample. To explore the dust emission distribution, we exploit the Herschel photometry in the range 100-500 $\mu$m. We employ S\'ersic and three-dimensional disc models to fit the observed two-dimensional profiles of the galaxies. Both approaches give similar results. Our analysis unequivocally states the case for the presence of extraplanar dust in between 6 to 10 large galaxies. The results reveal that both the disc scale length and height increase as a function of wavelength between 100 and 500 $\mu$m. The dust disc scale height positively correlates with the dust disc scale length, similar to what is observed for the stellar discs. We also find correlations between the scale lengths and scale heights in the near- and far-infrared which suggest that the stellar discs and their dust counterparts are tightly connected. Furthermore, the intrinsic flattening of the dust disc is inversely proportional to the maximum rotation velocity and the dust mass of the galaxy: more massive spiral galaxies host, on average, relatively thinner dust discs. Also, there is a tendency for the dust-to-stellar scale height ratio to decrease with the dust mass and rotation velocity. We conclude that low-mass spiral galaxies host a diffuse, puffed-up dust disc with a thickness similar to that of the stellar disc., Comment: 22 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present the observed HI size-mass relation of $204$ galaxies from the MIGHTEE Survey Early Science data. The high sensitivity of MeerKAT allows us to detect galaxies spanning more than 4 orders of magnitude in HI mass, ranging from dwarf galaxies to massive spirals, and including all morphological types. This is the first time the relation has been explored on a blind homogeneous data set which extends over a previously unexplored redshift range of $0 < z < 0.084$, i.e. a period of around one billion years in cosmic time. The sample follows the same tight logarithmic relation derived from previous work, between the diameter ($D_{\rm HI}$) and the mass ($M_{\rm HI}$) of HI discs. We measure a slope of $0.501\pm 0.008$, an intercept of $-3.252^{+0.073}_{-0.074}$, and an observed scatter of $0.057$ dex. For the first time, we quantify the intrinsic scatter of $0.054 \pm 0.003$ dex (${\sim} 10 \%$), which provides a constraint for cosmological simulations of galaxy formation and evolution. We derive the relation as a function of galaxy type and find that their intrinsic scatters and slopes are consistent within the errors. We also calculate the $D_{\rm HI} - M_{\rm HI}$ relation for two redshift bins and do not find any evidence for evolution with redshift. These results suggest that over a period of one billion years in lookback time, galaxy discs have not undergone significant evolution in their gas distribution and mean surface mass density, indicating a lack of dependence on both morphological type and redshift., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present redshift-zero synthetic dust-aware observations for the 45 Milky Way-mass simulated galaxies of the ARTEMIS project, calculated with the SKIRT radiative transfer code. The post-processing procedure includes components for star-forming regions, stellar sources, and diffuse dust. We produce and publicly release realistic high-resolution images for 50 commonly-used broadband filters from ultraviolet to sub-millimetre wavelengths and for 18 different viewing angles. We compare the simulated ARTEMIS galaxies to observed galaxies in the DustPedia database with similar stellar mass and star formation rate, and to synthetic observations of the simulated galaxies of the Auriga project produced in previous work using a similar post-processing technique. In all cases, global galaxy properties are derived using SED fitting. We find that, similar to Auriga, the post-processed ARTEMIS galaxies generally reproduce the observed scaling relations for global fluxes and physical properties, although dust extinction at FUV/UV wavelengths is underestimated and representative dust temperatures are lower than observed. At a resolved scale, we compare multi-wavelength non-parametric morphological properties of selected disc galaxies across the data sets. We find that the ARTEMIS galaxies largely reproduce the observed morphological trends as a function of wavelength, although they appear to be more clumpy and less symmetrical than observed. We note that the ARTEMIS and Auriga galaxies occupy adjacent regions in the specific star formation versus stellar mass plane, so that the synthetic observation data sets supplement each other., Comment: Accepted for publication by MNRAS

The standard method to generate dynamical models with a finite extent is to apply a truncation in binding energy to the distribution function. This approach has the disadvantages that one cannot choose the density to start with, that the important dynamical quantities cannot be calculated analytically, and that a fraction of the possible bound orbits are excluded a priori. We explore another route and start from a truncation in radius rather than a truncation in binding energy. We focus on the simplest truncated density profile, the uniform density sphere. We explore the most common inversion techniques to generate distribution functions for the uniform density sphere, corresponding to a large range of possible anisotropy profiles. We find that the uniform density sphere cannot be supported by the standard isotropic, constant anisotropy or Osipkov-Merritt models, as all these models are characterised by negative distribution functions. We generalise the Cuddeford inversion method to models with a tangential anisotropy and present a one-parameter family of dynamical models for the uniform density sphere. Each member of this family is characterised by an anisotropy profile that smoothly decreases from an arbitrary value $\beta_0\leqslant0$ at the centre to completely tangential at the outer radius. All models have a positive distribution function over the entire phase space, and a nonzero occupancy of all possible bound orbits. This shows that one can generate nontrivial self-consistent dynamical models based on preset density profile with a finite extent., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Context: Properly modelling scattering by interstellar dust grains requires a good characterisation of the scattering phase function. The Henyey-Greenstein phase function has become the standard for describing anisotropic scattering by dust grains, but it is a poor representation of the real scattering phase function outside the optical range. Aims: We investigate alternatives for the Henyey-Greenstein phase function that would allow the scattering properties of dust grains to be described. Our goal is to find a balance between realism and complexity: the scattering phase function should be flexible enough to provide an accurate fit to the scattering properties of dust grains over a wide wavelength range, and it should be simple enough to be easy to handle, especially in the context of radiative transfer calculations. Methods: We fit various analytical phase functions to the scattering phase function corresponding to the BARE-GR-S model, one of the most popular and commonly adopted models for interstellar dust. We weigh the accuracy of the fit against the number of free parameters in the analytical phase functions. Results: We confirm that the Henyey-Greenstein phase functions poorly describe scattering by dust grains, particularly at ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths, with relative differences of up to 50%. The Draine phase function alleviates this problem at near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths, but not in the UV. The two-term Reynolds-McCormick phase function, recently advocated in the context of light scattering in nanoscale materials and aquatic media, describes the BARE-GR-S data very well, but its five free parameters are degenerate. We propose a simpler phase function, the two-term ultraspherical-2 (TTU2) phase function, that also provides an excellent fit to the BARE-GR-S phase function over the entire UV-NIR wavelength range. (Abridged), Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

Cosmic dust grains are one of the fundamental ingredients of the interstellar medium (ISM). In spite of their small contribution to the total mass budget, dust grains play a significant role in the physical and chemical evolution of galaxies. Over the past decades, a plethora of multi-wavelength data, from UV to far-infrared, has increased substantially our knowledge on the dust properties of nearby galaxies. Nevertheless, one regime of the spectrum, the mm range, remains relatively unexplored. Thanks to the new, high-resolution data in the mm range observed with the NIKA2 instrument and our radiative transfer framework, we aim to firmly characterise the physical properties of the very cold dust (<15K), and to quantify the importance of different emission mechanisms in the mm. So far, we have developed a methodology to use dust radiative transfer modelling and applied it to a small group of face-on spiral galaxies. The combination of the new NIKA2 data with our radiative transfer techniques would provide the right conditions to generate an accurate model of the interplay between starlight and dust in a sizeable sample of spatially-resolved nearby galaxies., Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the International Conference entitled "mm Universe @ NIKA2", Rome (Italy), June 2021, EPJ Web of conferences

The ultraviolet (UV) to sub-millimetre (submm) spectral energy distribution of galaxies can be roughly divided into two sections: the stellar emission (attenuated by dust) at UV to near-infrared wavelengths and dust emission at longer wavelengths. In Dobbels et al. (2020), we show that these two sections are strongly related, and we can predict the global dust properties from the integrated UV to mid-infrared emission with the help of machine learning techniques. We investigate if these machine learning techniques can also be extended to resolved scales. Our aim is to predict resolved maps of the specific dust luminosity, specific dust mass, and dust temperature starting from a set of surface brightness images from UV to mid-infrared wavelengths. We used a selection of nearby galaxies retrieved from the DustPedia sample, in addition to M31 and M33. These were convolved and resampled to a range of pixel sizes, ranging from 150 pc to 3 kpc. We trained a random forest model which considers each pixel individually. We find that the predictions work well on resolved scales, with the dust mass and temperature having a similar root mean square error as on global scales (0.32 dex and 3.15 K on 18" scales respectively), and the dust luminosity being noticeably better (0.11 dex). We find no significant dependence on the pixel scale. Predictions on individual galaxies can be biased, and we find that about two-thirds of the scatter can be attributed to scatter between galaxies (rather than within galaxies). A machine learning approach can be used to create dust maps, with its resolution being only limited to the input bands, thus achieving a higher resolution than Herschel. These dust maps can be used to improve global estimates of dust properties, they can lead to a better estimate of dust attenuation, and they can be used as a constraint on cosmological simulations that trace dust., Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, accepted by A&A

In recent years, significant growth in the amount of data available to astronomers has opened up the possibility to uncover fundamental correlations, linking the dust component of a galaxy to its star formation rate (SFR). In this paper, we re-examine these correlations, investigating the origin of the observed scatter, and the ability of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to explore such relations in the early Universe. We defined a sample of about 800 normal star-forming galaxies with photometries in the range of 0.15 < $\lambda$ < 500 microns and analysed them with different spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting methods. With the SEDs extracted, we investigated the detection rate at different redshifts with the MId-Infrared instruments (MIRI) onboard the JWST. Dust luminosity (L$_d$) and SFR show a strong correlation, but for SFR < 2 M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$, the correlation scatter increases dramatically. We show that selection based on the fraction of ultraviolet (UV) emission absorbed by dust, that is, the UV extinction, greatly reduces the data dispersion. Reproducing the sensitivity of the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS) and classifying galaxies according to their SFR and stellar mass (M$_\ast$), we investigated the MIRI detection rate as a function of the physical properties of the galaxies. Fifty percent of the objects with SFR $\sim$ 1 M$_\odot$yr$^{-1}$ at $z$ = 6 are detected with F770, which decreases to 20% at $z$ = 8. For such galaxies, only 5% of the subsample will be detected at 5$\sigma$ with F770 and F1000 at $z$ = 8, and only 10% with F770, F1000, and F1280 at $z$ = 6. The link between dust and star formation is complex, and many aspects remain to be fully understood. In this context, the JWST will revolutionise the field, allowing investigation of the dust--star interplay well within the epoch of reionisation., Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. Text matching the published version

We revisit the differential energy distribution of steady-state dynamical models. It has been shown that the differential energy distribution of steady-state spherical models does not vary strongly with the anisotropy profile, and that it is hence mainly determined by the density distribution of the model. We explore this similarity in more detail. Through a worked example and a simple proof, we show that the mean binding energy per unit mass $\langle{\cal{E}}\rangle$, or equivalently the total integrated binding energy $B_{\text{tot}} = M\langle{\cal{E}}\rangle$, is independent of the orbital structure, not only for spherical models but for any steady-state dynamical model. Only the higher-order moments of the differential energy distribution depend on the details of the orbital structure. We show that the standard deviation of the differential energy distribution of spherical dynamical models varies systematically with the anisotropy profile: radially anisotropic models tend to prefer more average binding energies, whereas models with a more tangential orbital distribution slightly favour more extreme binding energies. Finally, we find that the total integrated binding energy supplements the well-known trio consisting of total kinetic energy, total potential energy, and total energy on an equal footing. Knowledge of any one out of these four energies suffices to calculate the other three., Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, published in A&A (653, A140)

Dust has been detected in high-redshift ($z>5$) galaxies but its origin is still being debated. Dust production in high-redshift galaxies could be dominated by stellar production or by accretion (dust growth) in the interstellar medium. Previous studies have shown that these two dust sources predict different grain size distributions, which lead to significantly different extinction curves. In this paper, we investigate how the difference in the extinction curves affects the dust attenuation properties of galaxies by performing radiative transfer calculations. To examine the major effects of the dust--stars distribution geometry, we adopt two representative cases in spherical symmetry: the well-mixed geometry (stars and dust are homogeneously mixed) and the two-layer geometry (young stars are more concentrated in the centre). In both cases, we confirm that the attenuation curve can be drastically steepened by scattering and by different optical depths between young and old stellar populations, and can be flattened by the existence of unobscured stellar populations. We can reproduce similar attenuation curves even with very different extinction curves. Thus, we conclude that it is difficult to distinguish the dust sources only with attenuation curves. However, if we include information on dust emission and plot the IRX (infrared excess)--$\beta$ (ultraviolet spectral slope) relation, different dust sources predict different positions in the IRX--$\beta$ diagram. A larger $\beta$ is preferred under a similar IRX if dust growth is the dominant dust source., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Using the First Light And Reionisation Epoch Simulations (\textsc{Flares}) we explore the dust driven properties of massive high-redshift galaxies at $z\in[5,10]$. By post-processing the galaxy sample using the radiative transfer code \textsc{skirt} we obtain the full spectral energy distribution. We explore the resultant luminosity functions, IRX-$\beta$ relations as well as the luminosity-weighted dust temperatures in the Epoch of Reionisation (EoR). We find that most of our results are in agreement with the current set of observations, but under-predict the number densities of bright IR galaxies, which are extremely biased towards the most overdense regions. We see that the \textsc{Flares} IRX-$\beta$ relation (for $5\le z\le8$) predominantly follows the local starburst relation. The IRX shows an increase with stellar mass, plateauing at the high-mass end ($\sim10^{10}$M$_{\odot}$) and shows no evolution in the median normalisation with redshift. We also look at the dependence of the peak dust temperature ($T_{\mathrm{peak}}$) on various galaxy properties including the stellar mass, IR luminosity and sSFR, finding the correlation to be strongest with sSFR. The luminosity-weighted dust temperatures increase towards higher redshifts, with the slope of the $T_{\mathrm{peak}}$ - redshift relation showing a higher slope than the lower redshift relations obtained from previous observational and theoretical works. The results from \textsc{Flares}, which is able to provide a better statistical sample of high-redshift galaxies compared to other simulations, provides a distinct vantage point for the high-redshift Universe., Comment: 19 pages, 16 figures, Published in MNRAS. Data link: https://flaresimulations.github.io/data.html

We present redshift-zero synthetic observational data considering dust attenuation and dust emission for the thirty galaxies of the Auriga project, calculated with the SKIRT radiative transfer code. The post-processing procedure includes components for star-forming regions, stellar sources, and diffuse dust taking into account stochastic heating of dust grains. This allows us to obtain realistic high-resolution broadband images and fluxes from ultraviolet to sub-millimeter wavelengths. For the diffuse dust component, we consider two mechanisms for assigning dust to gas cells in the simulation. In one case, only the densest or the coldest gas cells are allowed to have dust, while in the other case this condition is relaxed to allow a larger number of dust-containing cells. The latter approach yields galaxies with a larger radial dust extent and an enhanced dust presence in the inter-spiral regions. At a global scale, we compare Auriga galaxies with observations by deriving dust scaling relations using SED fitting. At a resolved scale, we make a multi-wavelength morphological comparison with nine well-resolved spiral galaxies from the DustPedia observational database. We find that for both dust assignment methods, although the Auriga galaxies show a good overall agreement with observational dust properties, they exhibit a slightly higher specific dust mass. The multi-wavelength morphological analysis reveals a good agreement between the Auriga and the observed galaxies in the optical wavelengths. In the mid and far-infrared wavelengths, Auriga galaxies appear smaller and more centrally concentrated in comparison to their observed counterparts. We publicly release the multi-observer images and fluxes in 50 commonly used broadband filters., Comment: 19 pages, 20 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

The objective of this paper is to understand the variance of the far-infrared (FIR) spectral energy distribution (SED) of the DustPedia galaxies, and its link with the stellar and dust properties. An interesting aspect of the dust emission is the inferred FIR colours which could inform us about the dust content of galaxies, and how it varies with the physical conditions within galaxies. However, the inherent complexity of dust grains as well as the variety of physical properties depending on dust, hinder our ability to utilise their maximum potential. We use principal component analysis (PCA) to explore new hidden correlations with many relevant physical properties such as the dust luminosity, dust temperature, dust mass, bolometric luminosity, star-formation rate (SFR), stellar mass, specific SFR, dust-to-stellar mass ratio, the fraction of absorbed stellar luminosity by dust (f_abs), and metallicity. We find that 95% of the variance in our sample can be described by two principal components (PCs). The first component controls the wavelength of the peak of the SED, while the second characterises the width. The physical quantities that correlate better with the coefficients of the first two PCs, and thus control the shape of the FIR SED are: the dust temperature, the dust luminosity, the SFR, and f_abs. Finally, we find a weak tendency for low-metallicity galaxies to have warmer and broader SEDs, while on the other hand high-metallicity galaxies have FIR SEDs that are colder and narrower.