Integral field optical spectroscopy of a representative sample of ULIRGs: I. The Data

TL;DR

This paper introduces a comprehensive dataset of 22 ULIRGs observed with integral field spectroscopy, analyzing their structure, dust, ionization, and kinematics to understand merger-driven evolution.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed integral field spectroscopic dataset of a representative ULIRG sample, covering various merger stages and ionization types.

Findings

Merger evolution affects ionized gas structure in ULIRGs.

Sample includes diverse merger phases and ionization stages.

Data set enables future detailed analysis of ULIRG properties.

Abstract

We present a project aimed at studying the structure, dust distribution, ionization state, and kinematics of a representative sample of 22 ULIRGs. The galaxies in the sample undergo different merger phases (they are evenly divided between pre- and post-coalescence systems) and ionization stages (27% HII, 32% LINER, 18% Seyfert, and 23% mixed classifications) over a wide infrared luminosity range (11.8<Lir/Lsun<12.6), which also includes some galaxies of low luminosity. The main aims of this paper are to present the sample and discuss the structure of the stellar and ionized gas components. Our results imply that evolution caused by a merger is occurring in the ionized gas structure of ULIRGs. The present study relies on the use of integral field optical spectroscopy data obtained with the INTEGRAL instrument at the 4.2 m William Herschel Telescope.