Mid-infrared spectroscopy of submillimeter galaxies : extended star formation in massive high-redshift galaxies.
- Menéndez-Delmestre, K.
- Blain, A.W.
- Smail, I.
- Alexander, D.M.
- Chapman, S.C.
- Armus, L.
- Frayer, D.
- Ivison, R.J.
- Teplitz, H.
DOIAbstract
We used the Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) to study the mid-IR properties and investigate the energetics of 24 Submillimeter Galaxies (SMGs). This is the largest sample of SMGs observed with Spitzer IRS and covers the full extent of properties of the radio-identified population of SMGs in the redshift range of z ~ 0.65-3.2. We observe broad emission features from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in more than 80% of our sample. We find that the median mid-IR spectrum is well described by a starburst component with an additional power law, F ν ~ ν-2, likely representing a <32% contribution from an active galactic nucleus to the bolometric luminosity. Our results thus confirm that starburst activity dominates the bolometric luminosity in ...
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