The Small Magellanic Cloud in the far infrared - I. ISO's 170 μm map and revisit of the IRAS 12–100 μm data

The ISOPHOT experiment onboard the ISO satellite generated a complete view of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) at 170 µm with 1.5 arcmin resolution. The map is analysed using an automated photometry program enabling accurate photometric characterization of the far infrared (FIR) emitting regions. An integrated FIR luminosity of 8 .5×10 7 Lis obtained, leading to a star formation rate of SFRFIR = 0.015 M� /yr. With an average dust temperature of , the total dust mass follows to MD = 3.7 × 10 5 M� . In this paper, the sources detected at 170 µm are compared with those obtainable from the IRAS satellite data. For this purpose, the 12 µm, 25 µm, 60 µm, and 100 µm IRAS high resolution (HiRes) maps of the SMC are re-examined using the same method. In contrast to former studies, this provides an all-band ISO/IRAS source catalog which is no longer based on eyeball classification, but relies on an algorithm which is capable of automated, repeatable photometry, even for irregular sources. In the mid infrared IRAS bands numerous bright FIR emitting regions in the SMC are detected and classified: 73 sources are found at 12 µm, 135 at 25 µm (most of them with Fν 30 K) for the first time. A comparison with earlier IRAS results suggests that many source flux densities in those studies have been under- or overestimated because of non-standardized fitting methods. Many sources with flux densities up to 40 Jy listed in former catalogs cannot be identified in our data.