2011/03/10 by K. Iwasawa, D. B. Sanders, Stacy H. Teng +13 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Brightness #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Infrared #Luminosity #Luminous infrared galaxy #Observatory #astro-ph.CO
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201015264
Accepted for publication in A&A, 30 pages, 15 figures, Large PDF file (~8 MB) of extensive image figures can be downloaded from http://goals.ipac.caltech.edu/publications.html
openalex publication_date 2011/03/10 · arxiv created 2011/03/14 · arxiv updated 2015/05/27 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present X-ray data for a complete sample of 44 luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs), obtained with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. These are the X-ray observations of the high luminosity portion of the Great Observatory All-sky LIRG Survey (GOALS), which includes the most luminous infrared selected galaxies, log (Lir/L⊙) ≥ 11.73, in the local universe, z ≤ 0.088. X-rays were detected from 43 out of 44 objects, and their arcsec-resolution images, spectra, and radial brightness distributions are presented. With a selection by hard X-ray colour and the 6.4 keV iron line, AGN are found in 37% of the objects, with higher luminosity sources more likely to contain an AGN. These AGN also tend to be found in late-stage mergers. The AGN fraction would increase to 48% if objects with [Ne v]λ14.3 μm detection are included. Double AGN are clearly detected only in NGC 6240 among 24 double/triple systems. Other AGN are found either in single nucleus objects or in one of the double nuclei at similar rates. Objects without conventional X-ray signatures of AGN appear to be hard X-ray quiet, relative to the X-ray to far-IR correlation for starburst galaxies, as discussed elsewhere. Most objects also show extended soft X-ray emission, which is likely related to an outflow from the nuclear region, with a metal abundance pattern suggesting enrichment by core collapse supernovae, as expected for a starburst.