Global Dust Budgets of the Magellanic Clouds

Within galaxies, gas and dust are constantly exchanged between stars and the interstellar medium (ISM). The life-cycle of gas and dust is the key to the evolution of galaxies. Despite its importance, it is has been very difficult to trace the life-cycle of gas and dust via observations. The Spitzer Space Telescope and Herschel Space Observatory have provided a great opportunity to study the life-cycle of the gas and dust in very nearby galaxies, the Magellanic Clouds. AGB stars are more important contributors to the dust budget in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), while in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), SNe are dominant. However, it seems that the current estimates of the total dust production from AGB stars is insufficient to account for dust present in the ISM. Other dust sources are needed, and supernovae are promising sources. Alternatively the time scale of dust lifetime itself needs some revisions, potentially because they could be unevenly distributed in the ISM or clumps.