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Description
The Andromeda galaxy is the best known large galaxy besides our own Milky Way. Several images and studies exist at all wavelengths from radio to hard X-ray. Nevertheless, only few observations are available in the microwave range where its average radio emission reaches the minimum. In this paper we want to study the radio morphology of the galaxy, decouple thermal from non-thermal emission and extract the star formation rate. We also aim to derive a complete catalogue of radio sources for the mapped patch of sky. We have observed the Andromeda galaxy with the Sardinia Radio Telescope at 6.6 GHz with very high sensitivity and angular resolution, and an unprecedented sky coverage. Using new 6.6GHz data and Effelsberg radio telescope ancillary data, we confirm that, globally, the spectral index assumes a value of ~0.7-0.8, while in the star forming regions it decreases to ~0.5. By disentangling (gas) thermal and non-thermal emission, we found that at 6.6GHz, thermal emission follows the distribution of HII regions around the ring. Non-thermal emission, within the ring, appears to be more uniform and smooth than thermal emission, due to the diffusion of the cosmic ray electrons away from their birthplaces. Hence the magnetic fields are nearly constant in intensity. Based on the thermal emission map, we have calculated a star formation rate map. Integrating within a radius of R_max_=15kpc, we obtained a total star formation rate of 0.19+/-0.01M*/yr in agreement with previous results in literature. Finally, we correlated our radio data with Infrared images of the Andromeda galaxy. We found an unexpected high correlation between non-thermal and MIR data in the central region, with a correlation parameter r=0.93. Finally, by computing the logarithmic 24um/21cm ratio q_24um_, we found a decreasing trend with increasing galactocentric distance and an increasing dispersion. The logarithmic FIR/radio ratio is found to be 2.41+/-0.04.
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