Extended IR Emission from LIRGs V. Charmandaris, T. Diaz-Santos, (Univ. of Crete) L. Armus & A....

Extended IR Emission from LIRGsExtended IR Emission from LIRGsExtended IR Emission from LIRGsExtended IR Emission from LIRGs

V. Charmandaris, T. Diaz-Santos, (Univ. of Crete)L. Armus & A. Petric (SSC/Caltech)

Heidelberg - 23 Feb 2010VC

MotivationMotivationMotivationMotivation

A number of the observational properties of SMGs such as: cold infrared colors energy production dominated by star formation ( > 100 Msun/yr) mid-IR spectral features (ie PAH strength)

… resemble those of local LIRGs rather than ULIRGs. Kinematical evidence from ionized (Hα) and molecular (CO) gas are

consistent the presence of extended (~5kpc) star forming disks There is a “broad” connection between mid-IR emission and star

formation rates (with some caveats…)

We wish to quantify the extended extranuclear emission in local LIRGs in the 5-15μm range to contribute additional evidence in the analogy between the physics of the ISM excitation in LIRGs and the conditions seen in SMGs at z>1.

Heidelberg - 23 Feb 2010VC

The SampleThe Sample The Sample is drawn from the Great Observatory Allsky LIRG Survey

(GOALS; Armus et al. 2009) of 202 systems (181 of which are LIRGs) All systems are observed with all four Spitzer/IRS modules (5-37μm) Apply an upper limit on distance (<85 Mpc) in order for the IRS slit size

to correspond to a projected distance < 1.5kpc (best case is 0.26kpc) A total of 93 galaxies are selected.

Heidelberg - 23 Feb 2010VC

The MethodThe Method

Use the 2D images of all LIRGs and re-extract total 5-15μm spectrum using the SSC pipeline algorithms

Use a standard star (HR7341) as our unresolved point source (PSF) Scale the spatial profile of the standard star along the slit at every

wavelength and subtract it from the corresponding profile of each source.

Define as fraction of Extended Emission (EE):

Total LIRG flux (λ) - PSF (λ)

Fraction of EE (λ) =

Total LIRG flux (λ)

Heidelberg - 23 Feb 2010VC

Extended Emission Fraction Type (1)Extended Emission Fraction Type (1)Extended Emission Fraction Type (1)Extended Emission Fraction Type (1)

Follow the green curve… No Extended Emission

Heidelberg - 23 Feb 2010VC

Extended Emission Fraction Type (2)Extended Emission Fraction Type (2)Extended Emission Fraction Type (2)Extended Emission Fraction Type (2)

Constant Extended EmissionFollow the green curve…

Heidelberg - 23 Feb 2010VC

PAHs

[ArII]

Extended Emission Fraction Type (3)Extended Emission Fraction Type (3)Extended Emission Fraction Type (3)Extended Emission Fraction Type (3)

Wavelength Depended Extended Emission

Heidelberg - 23 Feb 2010VC

Mean Fraction of mid-IR Extended EmissionMean Fraction of mid-IR Extended EmissionMean Fraction of mid-IR Extended EmissionMean Fraction of mid-IR Extended Emission

For 90% of the sample, at least 20% of the mid-IR flux is extended

For more than 35% of the sample, the EE fraction is larger than 0.5 (= 50%)

Heidelberg - 23 Feb 2010VC

Fraction of mid-IR Extended EmissionFraction of mid-IR Extended EmissionFraction of mid-IR Extended EmissionFraction of mid-IR Extended Emission

LIRGs with EE fractions larger than 0.5 are detected up to 80 Mpc!

The EE fraction is not correlated with the IR luminosity => the most luminous LIRGS are not necessarily the most compact

Limits to identifying a source with intrinsic EE=0.75 due to distance

Heidelberg - 23 Feb 2010VC

Are PAHs more extended than [NeII] ? (1)Are PAHs more extended than [NeII] ? (1)Are PAHs more extended than [NeII] ? (1)Are PAHs more extended than [NeII] ? (1)

“Neutral” PAHs such as the 11.3μm are…

… possibly because they do not require a strong ionizing radiation field

Heidelberg - 23 Feb 2010VC

Are PAHs more extended than [NeII] ? (2)Are PAHs more extended than [NeII] ? (2)Are PAHs more extended than [NeII] ? (2)Are PAHs more extended than [NeII] ? (2)

“Ionized” PAHs such as the 6.2μm and 7.7μm are not…

Heidelberg - 23 Feb 2010VC

AGN dependence of mid-IR Extended Emission AGN dependence of mid-IR Extended Emission AGN dependence of mid-IR Extended Emission AGN dependence of mid-IR Extended Emission

We can calculate the mid-IR AGN fraction using the EW of the 6.2μm PAH (Petric et al. 2010)…

We find no obvious dependence of Extended Emission on mid-IR AGN strength

Heidelberg - 23 Feb 2010VC

Conclusions / PerspectivesConclusions / PerspectivesConclusions / PerspectivesConclusions / Perspectives

Even though the spatial resultion of IRS is ~3.6arcsecs..

LIRGs display large fraction of extended mid-IR emission in both continuum and 5-15μm features

For at least 90% of the sample more than 20% of the mid-IR flux originates outside the nuclear unresolved region.

For at least 35% of the sample more than 50% of the mid-IR flux is extranuclear (possibly also their star formation?)

The extended emission varies as a function of wavelength. The 11.3μm PAH displays the larger extended emission, consistent with it

being a “neutral” PAH. No clear correlation between extended emission and mid-IR AGN

classification nor IR luminosity

To do: - Explore the correlations with merging stage

- Increase the range of IR luminosity to include some ULIRGs.