Related papers: Infrared spectroscopic diagnostics for Active Gala…
The Palomar Integral Field Spectrograph was used to probe a variety of environments in nine nearby galaxies that span a range of morphological types, luminosities, metallicities, and infrared-to-blue ratios. For the first time,…
Infrared (IR) fine-structure line (FSL) emission arises from the radiative de-excitation of collisionally-excited electrons in atoms and ions. Thanks to their high luminosities and relatively simple physics, IR FSLs have quickly become the…
Infrared fine-structure emission lines from trace metals are powerful diagnostics of the interstellar medium in galaxies. We explore the possibility of studying the redshifted far-IR fine-structure line emission using the three-dimensional…
Spectroscopy in the infrared provides a means to assess important properties of the plasma in gaseous nebulae. We present some of our own work that illustrates the need for interactions between the themes of this conference - astronomical…
This review discussed near- and mid- infrared observations of ultracompact (UC) HII regions. The importance of ISO mid-IR fine-structure nebular lines is emphasised since only a small fraction of UCHII regions are observed directly in the…
The spectra of AGN from the ultraviolet to the near infrared, exhibit emission lines covering a wide range of ionisation states, from neutral species such as [O I] 6300A, up to [Fe XIV] 5303A. Here we report on some recent studies of the…
Spectrophotometry constitutes a unique way to obtain the whole diagnostics (density, temperature, ionic abundances) of ionized gas nebulae, thus providing invaluable information about the objects where they reside. If such nebulae are in…
The SPICA mid and far-infrared telescope will address fundamental issues in our understanding of star formation and ISM physics in galaxies. A particular hallmark of SPICA is the outstanding sensitivity enabled by the cold telescope,…
We report on our first results from a mid-infrared spectroscopic study of ISM features in a sample of deeply obscured ULIRG nuclei using the InfraRed Spectrograph (IRS) on the Spitzer Space Telescope. The spectra are extremely rich and…
Roughly half of the radiation from evolving galaxies in the early universe reaches us in the far-infrared and submillimeter wavelength range. Recent major advances in observing capabilities, in particular the launch of the Herschel Space…
We present Herschel observations of six fine-structure lines in 25 Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies at z<0.27. The lines, [O III]52, [N III]57, [O I]63, [N II]122, [O I]145, and [C II]158, are mostly single gaussians with widths <600 km s-1…
We describe an extensive FUSE survey of highly ionized oxygen in the vicinity of the Milky Way that serves as an example of the type of study that would be desirable for other galactic systems. Understanding the origin of hot gas in the…
The mid- and far-IR spectral ranges are critical windows to characterize the physical and chemical processes that transform the interstellar gas and dust into stars and planets. Sources in the earliest phases of star formation and in the…
As a byproduct of its search for the first star forming galaxies, NGST will obtain high-quality spectra for thousands of galaxies in the redshift range z = 0 - 6 and beyond. Most of the galaxies will possess strong emission-line spectra,…
With excellent spectral and angular resolutions and, especially, sensitivity, the JWST allows us to observe infrared emission lines that were previously inaccessible or barely accessible. These emission lines are promising for evaluating…
The most intensively star-forming galaxies are extremely luminous at far-infrared (FIR) wavelengths, highly obscured at optical and ultraviolet wavelengths, and lie at $z\ge 1-3$. We present a programme of ${\it Herschel}$ FIR spectroscopic…
Nearby galaxies offer unique laboratories allowing multi-wavelength spatially resolved studies of the interstellar medium, star formation and nuclear activity across a broad range of physical conditions. In particular, detailed studies of…
We have completed an optical spectroscopic survey of the nuclear regions (r < 200 pc) of a large sample of nearby galaxies. Although the main objectives of the survey are to search for low-luminosity active galactic nuclei and to quantify…
High-resolution imaging and long-slit spectroscopy obtained with HST, combined with ground-based integral-field spectroscopy, provides the kinematics of stars and gas in nearby galactic nuclei with sufficient accuracy to derive the…
Spitzer/IRAC color selection is a promising technique to identify hot accreting nuclei, that is to say AGN, in galaxies. We demonstrate this using a small sample of SAURON galaxies, and explore this further. The goal of this study is to…