The intrinsic reddening of the Magellanic Clouds as traced by background galaxies – I. The bar and outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud
Author
Bell, Cameron P MCioni, Maria-Rosa L
Wright, A H
Rubele, Stefano
Nidever, David L
Tatton, Ben L
van Loon, Jacco Th
Ivanov, Valentin D
Subramanian, Smitha
Oliveira, Joana M
de Grijs, Richard
Pennock, Clara M
Choi, Yumi
Zaritsky, Dennis
Olsen, Knut

Niederhofer, Florian
Choudhury, Samyaday
Martínez-Delgado, David
Muñoz, Ricardo R
Affiliation
Univ Arizona, Steward ObservIssue Date
2019-08-23
Metadata
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OXFORD UNIV PRESSCitation
Cameron P M Bell, Maria-Rosa L Cioni, A H Wright, Stefano Rubele, David L Nidever, Ben L Tatton, Jacco Th van Loon, Valentin D Ivanov, Smitha Subramanian, Joana M Oliveira, Richard de Grijs, Clara M Pennock, Yumi Choi, Dennis Zaritsky, Knut Olsen, Florian Niederhofer, Samyaday Choudhury, David Martínez-Delgado, Ricardo R Muñoz, The intrinsic reddening of the Magellanic Clouds as traced by background galaxies – I. The bar and outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 489, Issue 3, November 2019, Pages 3200–3217, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz2325Rights
Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
We present a method to map the total intrinsic reddening of a foreground extinguishing medium via the analysis of spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of background galaxies. In this pilot study, we implement this technique in two distinct regions of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) – the bar and the southern outskirts – using a combination of optical and near-infrared ugrizYJKs broad-band imaging. We adopt the lephare χ2-minimization SED-fitting routine and various samples of galaxies and/or quasi-stellar objects to investigate the intrinsic reddening. We find that only when we construct reddening maps using objects classified as galaxies with low levels of intrinsic reddening (i.e. ellipticals/lenticulars and early-type spirals), the resultant maps are consistent with previous literature determinations, i.e. the intrinsic reddening of the SMC bar is higher than that in the outer environs. We employ two sets of galaxy templates – one theoretical and one empirical – to test for template dependences in the resulting reddening maps and find that the theoretical templates imply systematically higher reddening values by up to 0.20 mag in E(B − V). A comparison with previous reddening maps, based on the stellar components of the SMC, typically shows reasonable agreement. There is, however, significant variation amongst the literature reddening maps as to the level of intrinsic reddening associated with the bar. Thus, it is difficult to unambiguously state that instances of significant discrepancies are the result of appreciable levels of dust not accounted for in some literature reddening maps or whether they reflect issues with our adopted methodology.ISSN
0035-8711Version
Final published versionSponsors
European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programmeEuropean Research Council (ERC) [682115]; ERC consolidator grant project STARKEY [615604]; Science and Engineering Research Board, India, through the Ramanujan Fellowship; NSFNational Science Foundation (NSF) [AST 1655677]; FONDECYTComision Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica (CONICYT)CONICYT FONDECYT [1170364]; Science and Technology Facility Council (STFC) in the UKScience & Technology Facilities Council (STFC); ESO [179.B-2003]; U.S. Department of EnergyUnited States Department of Energy (DOE); U.S. National Science FoundationNational Science Foundation (NSF); Ministry of Science and Education of SpainMinistry of Education and Science, Spain; STFC of the U.K.Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC); Higher Education Funding Council for EnglandHigher Education Funding Council for England; National Center for SupercomputingApplications at theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago; Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics at the Ohio State UniversityOhio State University; Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy at Texas AM University; Financiadora de Estudos e ProjetosCiencia Tecnologia e Inovacao (FINEP); Fundacao Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparoa Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e TecnologicoNational Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq); Ministerio da Ciencia, Tecnologia e Inovacao; Deutsche ForschungsgemeinschaftGerman Research Foundation (DFG); Argonne National LaboratoryUnited States Department of Energy (DOE)University of Chicago; University of California at Santa Cruz; University of CambridgeUniversity of Cambridge; Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas; Medioambientales y Tecnologicas-Madrid; University of ChicagoUniversity of Chicago; University College London; DES-Brazil Consortium; University of Edinburgh; Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule (ETH) ZurichETH Zurich; Fermi National Accelerator LaboratoryUnited States Department of Energy (DOE)University of Chicago; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai (IEEC/CSIC); Institut de Fisica d'Altes Energies; Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryUnited States Department of Energy (DOE); Ludwig-Maximilians Universitat Munchen; associated Excellence Cluster Universe; University of MichiganUniversity of Michigan System; National Optical Astronomy ObservatoryNational Science Foundation (NSF)NSF - Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences (MPS); University of Nottingham; Ohio State UniversityOhio State University; University of Pennsylvania; University of Portsmouth; SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory; Stanford UniversityStanford University; University of Sussex; Texas AM University;[BASAL AFB-170002]ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1093/mnras/stz2325