elliptical galaxies without cold gas should still have mid-ir emission, either from circumstellar emission by giant stars or from dust that becomes mixed with, and eventually destroyed by the x-ray emitting hot gas. to search for this emission, we obtained cam narrow band observations from 6-15 um of nearby elliptical galaxies and easily detect each galaxy in every band (lw4-9). the spectral energy distribution indicates the presence of dust, but not with the anticipated pah signature. the shape of the energy distribution is perplexing, and only higher spectral resolution observations can discriminate between the variety of possible emission and absorption processes. such observations are possible with the cvf on cam and here we request discretionary observations of two optically bright nearby elliptical galaxies. if the emission proves to be circumstellar, the data will determine the net mass loss rate of an elliptical galaxy, which previously only has been calculated theoretically. should the emission arise from dust in the hot ism, we learn about the sputtering and emission properties of dust in this exotic hot environment.
Instrument
CAM04
Temporal Coverage
1998-03-16T22:11:19Z/1998-03-17T00:44:53Z
Version
1.0
Mission Description
The Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) was the world's first true orbiting infrared observatory. Equipped with four highly-sophisticated and versatile scientific instruments, it was launched by Ariane in November 1995 and provided astronomers world-wide with a facility of unprecedented sensitivity and capabilities for a detailed exploration of the Universe at infrared wavelengths.
