Enigmatic Masks of Cosmic Dust: 8.0μm Morphology of Nearby Barred Spiral Galaxies

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Scientific paper

Early observations of barred galaxies, such as NGC1300, NGC1530, NGC3351 and NGC5921 by Curtis, revealed the prevalence of characteristic dark bands or streaks across the disk of the galaxy. These dark bands were interpreted to be lanes of "occulting material” obscuring luminous objects behind them. While being nothing more than a nuisance to observers at the turn of the twentieth century, it is these lanes of dust to which we now turn, seen glowing in emission at 8.0μm. Comparing Spitzer IRAC images of a sample of nearby barred galaxies, we find a separation of 3.6μm images into two distinct classes or form families. The first class comprises galaxies whose 8.0μm morphology tightly traces the underlying barred stellar backbone at 3.6μm, while the second class does not reveal a bar at all at 8.0μm. Spectacular lanes of dust are however evident in this second class and are understood to be signatures of shock loci at the outer edges of the bar. These two distinct form families are discussed in greater detail.

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