Dust evolution processes constrained by extinction curves in nearby galaxies

Abstract

Extinction curves, especially those in the Milky Way (MW), the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), have provided us with a clue to the dust properties in the nearby Universe. We examine whether or not these extinction curves can be explained by well known dust evolution processes. We treat the dust production in stellar ejecta, destruction in supernova shocks, dust growth by accretion and coagulation, and dust disruption by shattering. To make a survey of the large parameter space possible, we simplify the treatment of the grain size distribution evolution by adopting the `two-size approximation', in which we divide the grain population into small ($\lesssim 0.03\mu$m) and large ($\gtrsim 0.03\mu$m) grains. It is confirmed that the MW extinction curve can be reproduced in reasonable ranges for the time-scale of the above processes with a silicate-graphite mixture. This indicates that the MW extinction curve is a natural consequence of the dust evolution through the above processes. We also find that the same models fail to reproduce the SMC/LMC extinction curves. Nevertheless, this failure can be remedied by giving higher supernova destruction rates for small carbonaceous dust and considering amorphous carbon for carbonaceous dust; these modification fall in fact in line with previous studies. Therefore, we conclude that the current dust evolution scenario composed of the aforementioned processes is successful in explaining the extinction curves. All the extinction curves favor efficient interstellar processing of dust, especially, strong grain growth by accretion and coagulation.

19 pages, 14 figures

References in corpus (25)

• Infrared Emission from Interstellar Dust. IV. The Silicate-Graphite-PAH Model in the Post-Spitzer Era
• Galactic chemical evolution: Carbon through Zinc
• An Analysis of the Shapes of Interstellar Extinction Curves. V. The IR-Through-UV Curve Morphology
• Dust Formation and Survival in Supernova Ejecta
• Evolution of interstellar dust and stardust in the solar neighbourhood
• Fragmentation of star-forming clouds enriched with the first dust
• The Evolution of Dust in the Early Universe with Applications to the Galaxy SDSS J1148+5251
• Rapid formation of large dust grains in the luminous supernova SN 2010jl
• A close halo of large transparent grains around extreme red giant stars
• Dust and Gas in the Magellanic Clouds from the HERITAGE Herschel Key Project. I. Dust Properties and Insights into the Origin of the Submm Excess Emission
• Rapid dust production in submillimeter galaxies at z>4?
• Condensation of dust in the ejecta of type II-P supernovae
• Shattering and coagulation of dust grains in interstellar turbulence
• Dust production 680-850 million years after the Big Bang
• The dust production rate of AGB stars in the Magellanic Clouds
• New constraints on dust emission and UV attenuation of z=6.5-7.5 galaxies from millimeter observations
• Dust properties at z=6.3 in the host galaxy of GRB 050904
• The origin of dust in galaxies revisited: the mechanism determining dust content
• Genesis and evolution of dust in galaxies in the early Universe I. Modeling dust evolution in starburst galaxies
• Two-size approximation: a simple way of treating the evolution of grain size distribution in galaxies
• No evidence for dust extinction in GRB 050904 at z ~ 6.3
• On the (in)variance of the dust-to-metals ratio in galaxies
• On Dust Extinction of Gamma-ray Burst Host Galaxies
• Evolution of grain size distribution in high-redshift dusty quasars: Integrating large amounts of dust and unusual extinction curves
• On the Unusual Depletions toward Sk 155, or What Are the Small Magellanic Cloud Dust Grains Made of?

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Galaxy Simulation with Dust Formation and Destruction
• The MOSDEF Survey: the Variation of the Dust Attenuation Curve with Metallicity
• Dust scaling relations in a cosmological simulation
• Self-consistent modelling of aromatic dust species and extinction curves in galaxy evolution
• Dust masses of $z>5$ galaxies from SED fitting and ALMA upper limits
• Evolution of the grain size distribution in Milky Way-like galaxies in post-processed IllustrisTNG simulations
• Evolution of grain size distribution with enhanced abundance of small carbonaceous grains in galactic environments