Astrophysics (Index)About

luminous infrared galaxy

(LIRG)
(a galaxy emitting a lot of far-infrared light)

A luminous infrared galaxy (LIRG) is a galaxy emitting more than 1011 times solar luminosity (LSun) in the far infrared. They are often a starburst galaxy and/or have an active galactic nucleus (AGN) or a quasar. The relatively high infrared stems from dust heated by the electromagnetic radiation (EMR) of the AGN and/or of star formation (SF), re-emitting the EMR in a cooler (infrared-intensive) black body spectrum, that can exceed the directly-viewed emission from the star formation or AGN. Generally, the more IR, the higher the star formation rate (SFR). LIRGs are among the brightest objects in the universe. Terms for extreme instances:

(Sources also cite these thresholds as applying to the galaxy's full bolometric luminosity, sometimes stipulating that most of its emission is within the infrared or far infrared; I presume this is the typical case for such bright galaxies.)

A submillimeter galaxy (SMG) is essentially the same as a LIRG.


(galaxy type,infrared)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_infrared_galaxy
https://dictionary.obspm.fr/index.php?showAll=1&formSearchTextfield=luminous+infrared+galaxy
http://candels-collaboration.blogspot.com/2012/07/luminous-infrared-galaxies.html
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1996ARA%26A..34..749S/abstract

Referenced by pages:
active galaxy
dusty galaxy
GOALS
hyperluminous infrared galaxy (HLIRG)
submillimeter galaxy (SMG)
ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG)

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