Dust properties of NGC 4753

We report on BVR surface photometry of a lenticular galaxy, NGC 4753, with prominent dust lanes. We have used the multicolor broadband photometry to s tudy dust extinction as a function of wavelength and derived the extinction curve. We find the extinction curve of NGC 4753 to be similar to the Galac tic extinction curve in the visible region, which implies that the sizes of dust grains responsible for optical extinction are similar to those in our Galaxy. We derive the dust mass from optical extinction as well as from th e far-infrared fluxes observed with IRAS. The ratio of the two dust masses, M-d,M-IRAS/M-d,M-optical, is 2.28 for NGC 4753, which is significantly low er than the value of 8.4 +/- 1.3 found previously for a large sample of ell iptical galaxies. The total mass of the observed dust within NGC 4753 is ab out a factor of 10 higher than the mass of dust expected from loss of mass from red giant stars and destruction by sputtering and grain-grain collisio ns in low-velocity shocks and sputtering in supernova-driven blast waves. W e find evidence for the coexistence of dust and Ha-emitting gas within NGC 4753. The current star formation rate of NGC 4753, averaged over the past 2 x 10(6) yr, is estimated to be less than 0.21 M-circle dot yr(-1). A subst antial amount of dust within NGC 4753 exists in the form of cirrus.