[Ultra] luminous infrared galaxies selected at 90 μm in the AKARI deep field: a study of AGN types contributing to their infrared emission^⋆

¹ National Centre for Nuclear Research, ul. Hoża 69, 00-681 Warszawa, Poland
e-mail: Katarzyna.Malek@ncbj.gov.pl
² The Astronomical Observatory of the Jagiellonian University, ul. Orla 171, 30-244 Kraków, Poland
³ Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille, OAMP, Université Aix-Marseille, CNRS, 38 rue Frédéric Joliot-Curie, 13388 Marseille Cedex 13, France
⁴ Department of Particle and Astrophysical Science, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, 464-8602 Nagoya, Japan
⁵ Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
⁶ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA
⁷ Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Sagamihara, 229-8510 Kanagawa, Japan

Received: 15 December 2015
Accepted: 16 November 2016

Abstract

Aims. The aim of this work is to characterize physical properties of ultra luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) and luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) detected in the far-infrared (FIR) 90 μm band in the AKARI Deep Field-South (ADF-S) survey. In particular, we want to estimate the active galactic nucleus (AGN) contribution to the LIRGs and ULIRGs’ infrared emission and which types of AGNs are related to their activity.

Methods. We examined 69 galaxies at redshift ≥0.05 detected at 90 μm by the AKARI satellite in the ADF-S, with optical counterparts and spectral coverage from the ultraviolet to the FIR. We used two independent spectral energy distribution fitting codes: one fitting the SED from FIR to FUV (CIGALE) (we use the results from CIGALE as a reference) and gray-body + power spectrum fit for the infrared part of the spectra (CMCIRSED) in order to identify a subsample of ULIRGs and LIRGs, and to estimate their properties.

Results. Based on the CIGALE SED fitting, we have found that LIRGs and ULIRGs selected at the 90 μm AKARI band compose ~56% of our sample (we found 17 ULIRGs and 22 LIRGs, spanning over the redshift range 0.06 <z< 1.23). Their physical parameters, such as stellar mass, star formation rate (SFR), and specific SFR are consistent with the ones found for other samples selected at infrared wavelengths. We have detected a significant AGN contribution to the mid-infrared luminosity for 63% of LIRGs and ULIRGs. Our LIRGs contain Type 1, Type 2, and intermediate types of AGN, whereas for ULIRGs, a majority (more than 50%) of AGN emission originates from Type 2 AGNs. The temperature-luminosity and temperature-mass relations for the dust component of ADF–S LIRGs and ULIRGs indicate that these relations are shaped by the dust mass and not by the increased dust heating.

Conclusions. We conclude that LIRGs contain Type 1, Type 2, and intermediate types of AGNs, with an AGN contribution to the mid infrared emission at the median level of 13 ± 3%, whereas the majority of ULIRGs contain Type 2 AGNs, with a median AGN fraction equal to 19 ± 8%.