A Herschel view of the far-infrared properties of submillimetre galaxies

Understand

We study a sample of 61 submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) selected from ground-based surveys, with known spectroscopic redshifts and observed with Herschel as part of the PACS Evolutionary Probe (PEP) and the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES) key programmes.

• We use the broad far-infrared wavelength coverage (100-600um) provided by the combination of PACS and SPIRE observations.
• Using a power-law temperature distribution model to derive infrared luminosities and dust temperatures, we measure a dust emissivity spectral index for SMGs of beta=2.0+/-0.2.
• Our results unveil the diversity of the SMG population.