Millimeter observations of a complete sample of IRAS galaxies: Dust emission and absorption in spirals

We report on observations performed at 1.25 $mm$ of a southern galaxy sample, selected from the IRAS PSC and complete to $S_{60}=2 Jy$. We detected 18 sources and set significant limits on 10 further objects. We use these data to discuss the spatial distribution of cold dust, the broad-band far-IR/mm spectra, the overall amount of dust, the gas-to-dust mass ratio, the dust optical depth, and the overall extinction, for such a representative galaxy sample. These results are also supported by a successful comparison with values inferred for the Galaxy. Because of the favourable observational setup, selection wavelength and completeness, we believe these data provide an unbiased view of dust properties in spiral galaxies.