Assessing the Feasibility of X-ray Emission in Determining the Star Formation Rates of LIRGs
Abstract
Luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) are the most energetic starburst galaxies in the local Universe. They are the sites of gas-rich galaxy mergers and interactions; the interactions drive star-forming molecular gas into the nuclear regions, fueling an intense starburst. However, heavy obscuration from dust in these compact regions complicates the use of optical wavelength diagnostics in determining physical quantities such as their star formation rate. In the present study, we compare the X-ray and radio properties of LIRGs. The hard X-ray emission emanates from accretion disks associated with active galactic nuclei and stellar X-ray binaries. The radio emission is an optically thin tracer of star formation and emanates from both HII regions (thermal) and supernovae (non-thermal). We correlate the Chandra hard X-ray luminosities (2-10 keV) with the EVLA radio luminosities of a sample of 20 starburst-dominated galaxies in the Great Observatories All-Sky LIRG Survey (GOALS) to examine whether hard X-ray emission is a reliable diagnostic of star formation activity in LIRGs.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #233
- Pub Date:
- January 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AAS...23336804M