Related papers: The Most Luminous Galaxies
At luminosities above ~10^{11} L_sun, infrared galaxies become the dominant population of extragalactic objects in the local Universe (z < 0.5), being more numerous than optically selected starburst and Seyfert galaxies, and QSOs at…
This paper reviews the recent results from a comprehensive investigation of the most luminous mergers in the local universe, the ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) and the quasars. First, the frequency of occurrence and importance of…
We use numerical simulation to investigate the triggering of starbursts in merging disk galaxies. The properties of the merger-driven starbursts are sensitive to the structure of the progenitor galaxies; specifically, to the amount of…
Submillimetre-luminous galaxies at high-redshift are the most luminous, heavily star-forming galaxies in the Universe, and are characterised by prodigious emission in the far-infrared at 850 microns (S850 > 5 mJy). They reside in halos ~…
Mergers in the local universe present a unique opportunity for studying the transformations of galaxies in detail. Presented here are recent results, based on multi-wavelength, high-resolution imaging and medium resolution spectroscopy,…
Ever since their discovery in the 1970's, UltraLuminous InfraRed Galaxies (ULIRGs; classically Lir>10^12Lsun) have fascinated astronomers with their immense luminosities, and frustrated them due to their singularly opaque nature, almost in…
A major recent development in extragalactic astronomy has been the discovery of a population of galaxies that are luminous at submillimetre wavelengths. Estimates of their spectral energy distributions suggest that these galaxies are the…
Essentially all Ultra-Luminous IR Galaxies (ULIRGs) are in disturbed, interacting or merging systems. It is known that interactions tend to induce galactic starbursts. Thus, elliptical galaxies which are formed in mergers will tend to have…
Ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) with multiple ($\ge 3$) nuclei are frequently observed. It has been suggested that these nuclei are produced by multiple major mergers of galaxies. The expected rate of such mergers is, however, too…
I will try to put the ultraluminous galaxy phenomenon into a broad cosmological context. Viewed from this perspective, the significance of ultraluminous galaxies and the `starburst vs. monster' debate becomes clear. Ultraluminous galaxies…
To study large-scale structure in the Universe a full census of the contents are required. This is even more important when the processes of galaxy formation are being investigated. In the last year the population of distant galaxies that…
We report high quality near-infrared spectroscopy of 12 ultra-luminous infrared galaxy mergers (ULIRGs). Our new VLT and Keck data provide ~0.5" resolution, stellar and gas kinematics of these galaxies most of which are compact systems in…
We report mid-infrared observations of several luminous infrared galaxies (LIGs) carried out with the Infrared Space Observatory. Our sample was chosen to represent different phases of a merger sequence of galaxy-galaxy interaction with…
The most luminous galaxies in the present Universe are found at the centers of the most massive dark matter haloes, rich galaxy clusters. In the LCDM cosmology, such massive halo cores are present at redshift z=6 with a comoving number…
We compare mid-infrared images of the Antennae galaxies (NGC 4038/39) from the Infrared Space Observatory, with optical images from the Hubble Space Telescope. The mid-infrared observations show that the most intense starburst in this…
Massive, galaxy-scale outflows are known to be ubiquitous in major mergers of disk galaxies in the local universe. In this paper, we explore the multiphase structure and power sources of galactic winds in six ultraluminous infrared galaxies…
The evolution of our Universe is strongly influenced by the attractive force of gravity. A key aspect of this evolution, therefore, is the merging of galaxies. Here, we explore the role of mergers in shaping the properties of massive…
We use imaging Fabry-Perot observations to explore the dynamical conditions in four southern ultraluminous (L_IR > 10^12 L_sun) infrared galaxies. These galaxies all show morphological and kinematic features indicative of a major merger,…
We present some highlights from the mid-infrared (5-16 micron) images of mergers of massive galaxies obtained with the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). We have observed: 1) ultraluminous infrared nuclei, 2) luminous dust-enshrouded…
The build up of heavy elements and the stellar mass assembly are fundamental processes in the formation and evolution of galaxies. Although they have been extensively studied through observations and simulations, the key elements that…