Analysis of FUV Emission in the Vicinity of R136 Cluster in 30 Doradus

Abstract

The intense diffuse radiation of galactic systems in the far ultraviolet (FUV) range is primarily due to dust scattering, with properties such as albedo, scattering phase function, and optical depth playing a crucial role. Utilizing observed data from the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) telescope, we investigated dust-scattered diffuse FUV emission from the 30 Doradus nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), offering insight into interstellar dust properties essential for understanding starburst galaxies. Employing a simple spherical shell model in the Monte Carlo based radiative transfer tool SKIRT, we simulated the dust-scattered FUV emissions, and compared them with the observed data. We predicted an excess of FUV photons being scattered near the star cluster R136 (formerly RMC 136) and ascertained a robust linear correlation between observations and model. Additionally, our best-fit model predicted the hydrogen column density near R136 to be approximately ~ 4.36 × 1021cm−2, corresponding to a color excess of E(B − V ) = 0.2, with the contribution of diffuse scattered FUV emissions estimated at 13% of the total radiation. This model can be further extended to better understand dust properties of similar starburst environments in the local universe and beyond.