Abstract
Observations from IRAS (the Infrared Astronomical Satellite) have shown that the peculiar galaxy Arp220 (=IC4553) has extreme IR properties1. Its IR luminosity is 100 times greater than normal spirals and nearly equals that of the most luminous Seyfert known, Mkn231. Its optical appearance suggests that it is either a recent merger or that it has a prominent central dust lane. Soifer et al.1 have discussed whether a starburst or a Seyfert nucleus can better explain their observations. We report here 20-, 350- and 760-µm observations which constrain the mass and size of the emitting region and compare Arp220 with the archetypal starburst galaxy M82.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to the full article PDF.
USD 39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Soifer, B. T. et al. Astrophys. J. (in the press).
Hildebrand, R. H. Q. J. R. astr. Soc. 24, 267–282 (1983).
Neugebauer, G. et al. Astrophys. J. Lett. 278, L1–L6 (1984).
Baan, W. A., Wood, P. A. D. & Haschick, A. D. Astrophys. J. Lett. 260, L49–L52 (1982).
Rieke, G. H., Lebofsky, M. J., Thompson, R. I., Low, F. J. & Tokunaga, A. T. Astrophys. J. 238, 24–40 (1980).
Telesco, C. M. & Harper, D. A. Astrophys. J. 235, 392–404 (1980).
Stein, W. A. & Soifer, B. T. A. Rev. Astr. Astrophys. 21, 177–207 (1983).
Wright, G. S., Joseph, R. D. & Meikle, W. P. S. Nature 309, 430–431 (1984).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Emerson, J., Clegg, P., Gee, G. et al. IR observations of the peculiar galaxy Arp220. Nature 311, 237–238 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/311237a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/311237a0
This article is cited by
-
Hot Dust in Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies
Astrophysics (2017)
-
The submillimetre revolution
Experimental Astronomy (2009)
-
Powerful extragalactic masers
Nature (1985)
