The Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey III. A constraint on dust grain lifetime in early-type galaxies
| Title | The Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey III. A constraint on dust grain lifetime in early-type galaxies |
| Publication Type | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication | 2010 |
| Authors | Clemens, MS, Jones, AP, Bressan, A, Baes, M, Bendo, GJ, Bianchi, S, Bomans, DJ, Boselli, A, Corbelli, E, Cortese, L, Dariush, A, Davies, JI, De Looze, I, Alighieri, SD, Fadda, D, Fritz, J, Garcia-Appadoo, DA, Gavazzi, G, Giovanardi, C, Grossi, M, Hughes, TM, Hunt, LK, Madden, S, Pierini, D, Pohlen, M, Sabatini, S, Smith, MWL, Verstappen, J, Vlahakis, C, Xilouris, EM, Zibetti, S |
| Journal | Astronomy & Astrophysics |
| Volume | 518 |
| Date Published | Jul-Aug |
| ISBN Number | 0004-6361 |
| Accession Number | WOS:000281527200051 |
| Abstract | Passive early-type galaxies (ETGs) provide an ideal laboratory for studying the interplay between dust formation around evolved stars and its subsequent destruction in a hot gas. Using Spitzer-IRS and Herschel data we compare the dust production rate in the envelopes of evolved AGB stars with a constraint on the total dust mass. Early-type galaxies which appear to be truly passively evolving are not detected by Herschel. We thus derive a distance independent upper limit to the dust grain survival time in the hostile environment of ETGs of <46 +/- 25 Myr for amorphous silicate grains. This implies that ETGs which are detected at far-infrared wavelengths have acquired a cool dusty medium via interaction. Given likely time-scales for ram-pressure stripping, this also implies that only galaxies with dust in a cool (atomic) medium can release dust into the intra-cluster medium. |
