Related papers: Massive star formation in Luminous Infrared Galaxi…
We present evidence for a Spitzer-selected luminous infrared galaxy (LIRG) behind the Bullet Cluster. The galaxy, originally identified in IRAC photometry as a multiply imaged source, has a spectral energy distribution consistent with a…
Observational evidence has been mounting over the past decade that at least some luminous (~2 L*) galaxies have formed nearly all of their stars within a short period of time only 1-2x10^9 years after the Big Bang. These are examples of the…
Massive low surface brightness galaxies have disk central surface brightnesses at least one magnitude fainter than the night sky, but total magnitudes and masses that show they are among the largest galaxies known. Like all low surface…
Using the new capabilities of the Spitzer Space Telescope and extensive multiwavelength data from the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey (SINGS), it is now possible to study the infrared properties of star formation in nearby galaxies…
Luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) are enshrouded by a large amount of dust, produced by their active star formation, and it is difficult to measure their activity in the optical wavelength. We have carried out Pa$\alpha$ narrow-band…
To understand the nuclear stellar populations and star formation histories of the nuclei of spiral galaxies, we have obtained K-band nuclear spectra for 41 galaxies and H-band spectra for 20 galaxies in the ISO Atlas of Bright Spiral…
Star-forming galaxies produce gamma-rays primarily via pion production, resulting from inelastic collisions between cosmic ray protons and the interstellar medium (ISM). The dense ISM and high star formation rates of luminous and…
We report on an on-going near-IR adaptive optics survey targeting interacting luminous IR galaxies. High-spatial resolution NIR data are crucial to enable interpretation of kinematic, dynamical and star formation (SF) properties of these…
In this thesis we have identified two star formation sites for star formation in galaxies which differ widely in metal content. We conclude that `massive' star formation that occurs in a high density, high metallicity environment, like that…
We perform photometric measurements on a large HST snapshot imaging survey sample of 97 ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). We select putative nuclei from bright clumps in all the sample targets, mainly based on a quantitative…
Mergers of massive gas-rich galaxies trigger violent starbursts that - over timescales of $> 100$ Myr and regions $> 10$ kpc - form massive and compact star clusters comparable in mass and radii to Galactic globular clusters. The star…
Using data from the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey and HST/ACS imaging in the Extended Groth Strip, we select nearly 100 interacting galaxy systems including kinematic close pairs and morphologically identified merging galaxies. Spitzer MIPS…
Most stars are born in rich young stellar clusters (YSCs) embedded in giant molecular clouds. The most massive stars live out their short lives there, profoundly influencing their natal environments by ionizing HII regions, inflating…
I will discuss the presence of massive star clusters in starburst galaxies with an emphasis on low mass galaxies outside the local group. I will show that such galaxies, with respect to their mass and luminosity, may be very rich in young…
Stars can either be formed in or captured by the accretion disks in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). These AGN stars are irradiated and subject to extreme levels of accretion, which can turn even low-mass stars into very massive ones ($M > 100…
Super Star Clusters are one of the most extreme star forming environments in the universe, and the most massive and dense of these may be proto globular clusters. Like individual massive stars, the earliest stages of super star cluster…
We present the first results of our program to study a sample of local luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs, L_IR = 10^11-10^12 L_sun) with the Spitzer infrared spectrograph (IRS). In these proceedings we investigate the behavior of the 9.7 um…
The currently available empirical evidence on the star formation processes in the extreme, high-pressure environments induced by galaxy encounters, mostly based on high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope imaging observations, strongly…
Aims. Expanding HII regions and propagating shocks are common in the environment of young high-mass star-forming complexes. They can compress a pre-existing molecular cloud and trigger the formation of dense cores. We investigate whether…
We present a comprehensive study of the star-formation properties of the infrared luminous galaxy Arp299 (IC694 + NGC3690). The observations include HST/NICMOS imaging and MMT optical and near-infrared spectroscopy together with HST…