Project Title: Analysis of Infrared Emission from the Nuclei of Galaxies

Project Description:

Analysis of infrared emission from the nuclei of galaxies. The data to be analyzed will be obtained at the Mt. Palomar telescope in the Spring of 1995. The principal question to be addressed is whether the size and spatial distribution of the region(s) of infrared emission are more consistent with the luminosity source in these objects being a hidden quasar or burst(s) of star formation. The project will involved data reduction to obtain the infrared images and processing and analysis of these images.

Background Information:

The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) discovered in 1983 that many galaxies emit >90% of their energy at infrared wavelengths from 10- to 120-um. In many cases, the infrared luminosity of such a galaxy is 10 or 100 times the visible light output of the stars in a normal galaxy like our own. Although it is pretty clear that the infrared radiation is produced by warm dust, it is not known how the dust is heated.

Two competing ideas are that the heating luminosity is due to very energetic star-forming activity (starbursts) or that it is due to a quasar hidden within the clouds of dust and gas at the nuclei of the galaxies. High angular resolution images at 10um may be able to distinguish between these two ideas, as the former predicts a spatially distributed source of radiation, while the latter would be more consistent with a point course. Data capable of distinguishing between the alternatives will be taken at the Palomar Observatory with a new infrared camera recently developed at JPL. The SURF project is to analyze these data.

Literature References:

Surace et al, Astronomical Journal, v. 105, p. 864 (1993)
Sanders et al, Astrophysical Journal, v. 325, p. 74 (1988)
Soifer et al, Annual Reviews of Astronomy and Astrophysics, v. 25, p. 187 (1987)

Requirements:

The sponsor requires that interested students meet the following requirements:
Ability to work independently.
Familiarity with basic physics and astronomy. Knowledge of computers.

This opportunity is for:

Caltech students. Will consider non-Caltech students

Research Sponsor

Sponsor: Michael Werner
Division: JPL
Mail Code: 233-303
Phone: (818)354-0146
E-mail: mww@ipac.caltech.edu