Dust properties of clumpy disc galaxies at z ∼ 1.3 with Herschel-SPIRE

We present the far-infrared-derived dust properties from Herschel Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver of the WiggleZ kinematic sample of 13 star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 1.3, with existing ancillary ∼kpc resolution integral field spectroscopy. We detect three galaxies individually and place limits on the remainder by stacking. The detected galaxies, two clumpy discs and one merger have cold dust temperatures of Td ∼ 26 K and have infrared luminosities of LIR ∼ 1.2 × 1012 L , determined by modified blackbody fitting. The two detected disc galaxies have the largest Hα surface areas of the sample and have the reddest ultraviolet-tonear-infrared spectral energy distributions. The likely source of the infrared luminosity in these objects is dust heated by the interstellar radiation field and young stellar emission from the clumps within the discs. The source of infrared luminosity for the merger is likely dust heated by a starburst resulting from the merger. The WiggleZ detections are among the coldest and lowest luminosity individual objects detected in the far-infrared at z > 1. When combining the kinematic data, we find that none of the compact galaxies nor the ‘dispersion-dominated’ galaxies of the WiggleZ kinematic sample are detected, implying that they have warmer dust temperatures. The compact objects show the highest Hα velocity dispersions in the sample, in qualitative agreement with bulge formation models. These far-infrared results strengthen the interpretation that the majority of galaxies in this sample constitute different stages in clumpy disc formation as presented from ancillary kinematic analysis.