Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 1990
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1990a%26a...227..379d&link_type=abstract
Astronomy and Astrophysics (ISSN 0004-6361), vol. 227, no. 2, Jan. 1990, p. 379-384.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
12
Infrared Sources (Astronomy), Interacting Galaxies, Starburst Galaxies, Emission Spectra, Hydrocarbons, Radiative Transfer, Star Formation
Scientific paper
This paper reports the detection of the 3.3-micron emission feature in the center of two external galaxies: IC 694 (interacting with NGC 3690) and NGC 4194 (a merger). This feature has been previously detected in various galactic and extragalactic objects and is thought to be due to very small grains or large molecules that probably belong to the Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) family. Its presence, as well as the IRAS colors, strongly suggest that these galaxies are dominated by starbursts rather than active nuclei. From publishing data and the present observations, the brightness of the feature in different galaxies is studied. A simple model of radiative transfer shows that the 3.3-micron feature brightness of a given galaxy allows the determination of the unreddened surface brightness of the galaxy stellar content. In galaxies with relatively large extinction, the 3.3-micron feature (and the other PAH related features) is therefore a useful spatial indicator of star-formation activity in their centers.
Dennefeld Michel
Desert François Xavier
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