GOALS: The Great Observatories All-Sky LIRG Survey

Abstract

The Great Observatories All-sky LIRG Survey (GOALS) combines data from NASA's\nSpitzer, Chandra, Hubble and GALEX observatories, together with ground-based\ndata into a comprehensive imaging and spectroscopic survey of over 200 low\nredshift Luminous Infrared Galaxies (LIRGs). The LIRGs are a complete subset of\nthe IRAS Revised Bright Galaxy Sample (RBGS). The LIRGs targeted in GOALS span\nthe full range of nuclear spectral types defined via traditional optical\nline-ratio diagrams as well as interaction stages. They provide an unbiased\npicture of the processes responsible for enhanced infrared emission in galaxies\nin the local Universe. As an example of the analytic power of the\nmulti-wavelength GOALS dataset, we present data for the interacting system VV\n340 (IRAS F14547+2449). Between 80-95% of the total far-infrared emission (or\nabout 5E11 solar luminosities) originates in VV 340 North. While the IRAC\ncolors of VV 340 North and South are consistent with star-forming galaxies,\nboth the Spitzer IRS and Chandra ACIS data indicate the presence of a buried\nAGN in VV 340 North. The GALEX far and near-UV fluxes imply a extremely large\ninfrared "excess" (IRX) for the system (IR/FUV = 81) which is well above the\ncorrelation seen in starburst galaxies. Most of this excess is driven by VV 340\nN, which alone has an IR excess of nearly 400. The VV 340 system seems to be\ncomprised of two very different galaxies - an infrared luminous edge-on galaxy\n(VV 340 North) that dominates the long-wavelength emission from the system and\nwhich hosts a buried AGN, and a face-on starburst (VV 340 South) that dominates\nthe short-wavelength emission.\n