Near- and Mid-IR Imaging of the Nuclear Starburst in NGC 3079

  • L. Armus
  • D. L. Shupe
  • K. Matthews
  • G. Neugebauer
  • B. T. Soifer
  • T. L. Hayward
  • J. W. Miles
  • J. R. Houck
Chapter
Part of the Astrophysics and Space Science Library book series (ASSL, volume 190)

Abstract

The nearly edge-on Sc galaxy NGC 3079 displays strong nuclear optical emission lines of Ha, Hβ, [NII], [SII], [OI] and [OIII], and has been classified as a LINER based on the widths and relative fluxes of these lines. Observations at a variety of wavelengths have provided evidence for both a weak AGN and a starburst in and around the nucleus. Strong far-infrared emission (Soifer et al. 1987), extended mid-infrared emission (Lawrence et al. 1985), and the presence of a very large mass of molecular gas, nearly 1010 M⊙ (Irwin and Sofue 1992), lying within the central kpc, all argue for a central starburst. The high luminosity and small physical size of the nuclear H2O megamaser (Henkel et al. 1984, Haschick et al. 1990), together with the multi-component 6 cm source within the central 1 pc (Irwin and Seaquist 1988) may imply the presence of an active nucleus.

Keywords

Active Nucleus Relative Flux Energy Input Rate Infrared Astronomy Small Physical Size 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 1994

Authors and Affiliations

  • L. Armus
    • 1
  • D. L. Shupe
    • 1
  • K. Matthews
    • 1
  • G. Neugebauer
    • 1
  • B. T. Soifer
    • 1
  • T. L. Hayward
    • 2
  • J. W. Miles
    • 2
  • J. R. Houck
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of PhysicsCaltechPasadenaUSA
  2. 2.Department of AstronomyCornell UniversityIthacaUSA

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