2010ApJ...718L...1B

Power spectra of Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) emission at 24, 70, and 160 µm observed with the Spitzer Space Telescope have a two-component power-law structure with a shallow slope of -1.6 at low wavenumber, k, and a steep slope of -2.9 at high k. The break occurs at k^–1 ∼ 100-200 pc, which is interpreted as the line-of-sight thickness of the LMC disk. The slopes are slightly steeper for longer wavelengths, suggesting the cooler dust emission is smoother than the hot emission. The power spectrum (PS) covers ∼3.5 orders of magnitude, and the break in the slope is in the middle of this range on a logarithmic scale. Large-scale driving from galactic and extragalactic processes, including disk self-gravity, spiral waves, and bars, presumably causes the low-k structure in what is effectively a two-dimensional geometry. Small-scale driving from stellar processes and shocks causes the high-k structure in a three-dimensional geometry. This transition in dimensionality corresponds to the observed change in PS slope. A companion paper models the observed power law with a self-gravitating hydrodynamics simulation of a galaxy like the LMC.