Cold galaxies

Abstract

We use 350 μm angular diameter estimates from Planck to test the idea that some galaxies contain exceptionally cold (10-13 K) dust, since colder dust implies a lower surface brightness radiation field illuminating the dust, and hence a greater physical extent for a given luminosity. The galaxies identified from their spectral energy distributions as containing cold dust do indeed show the expected larger 350 μm diameters. For a few cold dust galaxies where Herschel data are available, we are able to use submillimetre maps or surface brightness profiles to locate the cold dust, which as expected generally lies outside the optical galaxy.