The Interstellar dust : what can we learn from its continuum and polarized emission.

Séminaire IPAG de Maud Galametz (CEA Saclay), jeudi 28 mars 2019 à 11h00, salle Manuel Forestini

The interstellar dust is a key galaxy component and a strong diagnostic tool to trace the lifecycle of matter in the ISM. Herschel and Planck have revolutionised our understanding of dust properties in our own Galaxy and nearby galaxies. Recent observations and comparisons of AV estimates from the dust with optical estimates in the Galaxy have highlighted the need of a new recalibration of our dust reservoirs. In this seminar, I will discuss how our knowledge of the dust composition has improved with the latest IR and submm observations, how grain growth is one of the key parameters of the evolution of a galaxy ISM and the importance of taking dust evolution in the ISM into account in our future SED models.

I will also discuss dust polarization and how it can be used to probe the role of magnetic field in star formation processes as well as to probe the nature of the dust grains themselves. I will finish the talk with a summary of on-going work on the variations of grain sizes in young protostars.