The AGN/starburst connection in luminous infrared galaxies

One of the most exciting results of the IRAS sky survey was the discovery of luminous infrared galaxies, which emit the bulk of their radiataion in the infrared. One of the most vexing questions about luminous infrared galaxies is the relative contribution of starburst or AGN to the overall energy b...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advances in space research 1999-01, Vol.23 (5), p.1045-1049
Main Authors: Kewley, Lisa J, Heisler, Charlene A, Dopita, Micheal A, Norris, Ray P
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:One of the most exciting results of the IRAS sky survey was the discovery of luminous infrared galaxies, which emit the bulk of their radiataion in the infrared. One of the most vexing questions about luminous infrared galaxies is the relative contribution of starburst or AGN to the overall energy budget. We are addressing this issue by combining theoretical modelling with optical, radio and infrared data from IRAS for a large sample of 285 infrared galaxies of a range of luminosities. We present an optical diagnostic analysis of a nearby subsample and analyse the incidence of compact radio cores. We find 90% of AGN type galaxies contain compact radio cores, while 37% of starburst galaxies contain compact radio cores. The compact radio cores may be obscured AGN or compact supernove activity such as that seen in Arp 220.
ISSN:0273-1177
1879-1948
DOI:10.1016/S0273-1177(99)00233-1