The energy output of the Universe from 0.1 micron to 1000 micron

Details The energy output of the Universe from 0.1 micron to 1000 micron The energy output of the Universe from 0.1 micron to 1000 micron

2008-03-28

arxiv.org/abs/0803.4164v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Accepted by ApJ Letters

Scientific paper

10.1086/588582

The dominant source of electromagnetic energy in the Universe today (over ultraviolet, optical and near-infrared wavelengths) is starlight. However, quantifying the amount of starlight produced has proven difficult due to interstellar dust grains which attenuate some unknown fraction of the light. Combining a recently calibrated galactic dust model with observations of 10,000 nearby galaxies we find that (integrated over all galaxy types and orientations) only (11 +/- 2)% of the 0.1 micron photons escape their host galaxies; this value rises linearly (with log(lambda)) to (87 +/- 3)% at 2.1 micron. We deduce that the energy output from stars in the nearby Universe is (1.6+/-0.2) x 10^{35} W Mpc^{-3} of which (0.9+/-0.1) x 10^{35} W Mpc^{-3} escapes directly into the inter-galactic medium. Some further ramifications of dust attenuation are discussed, and equations that correct individual galaxy flux measurements for its effect are provided.

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