100 and 160um fluxes of nearby galaxies

Once combined with the Herschel/SPIRE observations already available, these data make the HRS the largest representative sample of nearby galaxies with homogeneous coverage across the 100-500{mu}m wavelength range. In this paper, we take advantage of this unique data set to investigate the properties and shape of the far-infrared/submillimetre spectral energy distribution in nearby galaxies.

We show that, in the stellar mass range covered by the HRS (8<~log(M*/M_{sun}_)<~12), the far-infrared/submillimetre colours are inconsistent with a single modified blackbody having the same dust emissivity index {beta} for all galaxies. In particular, either {beta} decreases or multiple temperature components are needed, when moving from metal-rich/gas-poor to metal-poor/gas-rich galaxies. We thus investigate how the dust temperature and mass obtained from a single modified blackbody depend on the assumptions made on {beta}.