Dust in the Local Universe
Posted in Projects
Detailed observations of dust in local galaxies with optical and infrared telescopes show that dust populations vary in amount, chemical composition, and size both within galaxies and between them. In contrast, galaxy simulations typically treat dust passively, assuming a fixed dust composition with a total abundance set by a constant fraction (\({\sim} 40\%\)) of metals. By developing dust evolution models integrated into galaxy simulations we can answer key questions about dust in the local Universe.
- Why does galactic dust abundance depend on metallicity?
- Why are there more small dust grains and less carbonaceous dust in the Large and Small Maganellanic Clouds compared to the Milky Way?
- What produces the variety of extinction curves we see in the Milky Way?
