2006/12/04 by P. Panuzzo, G. L. Granato, V. Buat +6 · 84 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Attenuation #Cosmic dust #Extinction (optical mineralogy) #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Initial mass function #Optics #Physics #Spiral galaxy #Star formation #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Ultraviolet #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.11337.x
published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 375(2), 640-648 (Oxford University Press) · 10 pages, accepted for publication on MNRAS
arxiv created 2006/12/04 · openalex publication_date 2007/01/08 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We analyse the attenuation properties of a sample of ultraviolet (UV) selected galaxies, with the use of the spectrophotometric model GRASIL. In particular, we focus on the relation between dust attenuation and the reddening in the UV spectral region. We show that a realistic modelling of geometrical distribution of dust and the different population of stars can explain the UV reddening of normal spiral galaxies also with a standard Milky Way dust. Our results clearly underline that it is fundamental to take into account that younger stars suffer a higher attenuation than older stars (the age-dependent extinction) because stars are born in more-than-average dusty environments. In this work, we also find that the concentration of young stars on the galactic plane of spirals has a relevant impact on the expected UV colours, impact that has not been explored before this paper. Finally, we discuss the role of the initial mass function (IMF) in shaping the relation between UV reddening and dust attenuation, and we show that a Kroupa IMF is more consistent with observed data than the classical Salpeter IMF.