Spitzer/IRS Mapping of Local Luminous Infrared Galaxies

TL;DR

This study uses Spitzer/IRS to create detailed spectral maps of local Luminous Infrared Galaxies, analyzing their mid-infrared features to understand their properties and compare them with distant galaxies.

Contribution

It provides comprehensive mid-infrared spectral maps of local LIRGs covering the full 5-38 microns range, enabling detailed analysis of their emission features.

Findings

Spectral maps of key mid-IR emission lines and PAH features

Characterization of mid-IR properties of local LIRGs

Foundation for comparing local and distant infrared galaxies

Abstract

We present results of our program Spitzer/IRS Mapping of local Luminous Infrared Galaxies (LIRGs). The maps cover the central 20"x20" or 30"x 30" regions of the galaxies, and use all four IRS modules to cover the full 5-38 microns spectral range. We have built spectral maps of the main mid-IR emission lines, continuum and PAH features, and extracted 1D spectra for regions of interest in each galaxy. The final goal is to fully characterize the mid-IR properties of local LIRGs as a first step to understanding their more distant counterparts.