The Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey. VI. The far-infrared view of M87
Abstract
The origin of the far-infrared emission from the nearby radio galaxy M87 remains a matter of debate. Some studies find evidence of a far-infrared excess due to thermal dust emission, whereas others propose that the far-infrared emission can be explained by synchrotron emission without the need for an additional dust emission component. We present Herschel PACS and SPIRE observations of M87, taken as part of the science demonstration phase observations of the Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey. We compare these data with a synchrotron model based on mid-infrared, far-infrared, submm and radio data from the literature to investigate the origin of the far-infrared emission. Both the integrated SED and the Herschel surface brightness maps are adequately explained by synchrotron emission. At odds with previous claims, we find no evidence of a diffuse dust component in M87, which is not unexpected in the harsh X-ray environment of this radio galaxy sitting at the core of the Virgo cluster.
Additional Information
© 2010 ESO. Received 30 March 2010, Accepted 2 May 2010, Published online 16 July 2010. Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is operated by Associated Universities Inc, under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.Attached Files
Published - Baes2010p11872Astron_Astrophys.pdf
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- Eprint ID
- 21033
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- CaltechAUTHORS:20101129-094351703
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2010-11-29Created from EPrint's datestamp field
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2021-11-09Created from EPrint's last_modified field