Morphological Classification of Infrared Galaxies Based on WISE

This study introduces a novel convolutional neural network,the WISE Galaxy Classification Network(WGC),for classifying spiral and elliptical galaxies using Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer(WISE)images.WGC attains an accuracy of 89.03%,surpassing the combined use of K-means or SVM with the Color-Color method in more accurately identifying galaxy morphologies.The enhanced variant,WGC_mag,integrates magnitude parameters with image features,further boosting the accuracy to 89.89%.The research also delves into the criteria for galaxy classification,discovering that WGC primarily categorizes dust-rich images as elliptical galaxies,corresponding to their lower star formation rates,and classifies less dusty images as spiral galaxies.The paper explores the consistency and complementarity of WISE infrared images with SDSS optical images in galaxy morphology classification.The SDSS Galaxy Classification Network(SGC),trained on SDSS images,achieved an accuracy of 94.64%.The accuracy reached 99.30% when predictions from SGC and WGC were consistent.Leveraging the complementarity of features in WISE and SDSS images,a novel variant of a classifier,namely the Multi-band Galaxy Morphology Integrated Classifier,has been developed.This classifier elevates the overall prediction accuracy to 95.39%.Lastly,the versatility of WGC was validated in other data sets.On the HyperLEDA data set,the distinction between elliptical galaxies and Sc,Scd and Sd spiral galaxies was most pronounced,achieving an accuracy of 90%,surpassing the classification results of the Galaxy Zoo 2 labeled WISE data set.This research not only demonstrates the effectiveness of WISE images in galaxy morphology classification but also represents an attempt to integrate multi-band astronomical data to enhance understanding of galaxy structures and evolution.

Infrared Galaxies in the Nearby Universe

We used the Sloan Digital Sky Survey （SDSS） Data Release 5 （DR5） to study the morphological properties of 1137 nearby infrared （IR） galaxies, most of which are brighter than 15.9 mag in r-band. This sample was drawn from a cross-correlation of the Infra-Red Astronomical Satellite （IRAS） point source catalog redshift survey with DR5 at z ≤ 0.08. Based on this IR galaxy sample, we constructed five volume-limited sub-samples with IR luminosity ranging from 10^9.5 L⊙ to 10^12L⊙. By deriving the IR luminosity functions （LF） for different morphological types, we found that normal spiral galaxies are the dominant population below LIR ~ 8 ~ 10^10 L⊙; while the fraction of barred spiral galaxies increases with increasing IR luminosity and becomes dominant in spiral galaxies beyond LIR ≈ 5 × 10^10L⊙. As the IR luminosity decreases, the IR galaxies become more compact and have lower stellar masses. The analysis also shows that normal spiral galaxies give the dominant contribution to the total comoving IR energy density in the nearby universe, while, in contrast, the contribution from peculiar galaxies is only 39%.

A Catalog of Luminous Infrared Galaxies in the IRAS Survey and Second Data Release of SDSS

We selected a sample of luminous infrared galaxies by cross-identification of the Faint Source Catalogue （FSC） and Point Source Catalogue （PSC） of the IRAS Survey with the Second Data Release of the SDSS. The size of our sample is 1267 for FSC and 427 for PSC by using the 2a significance level cross-section. The ＂likelihood ratio＂ method is used to estimate the individual＇s reliability and for defining two more reliable subsamples （908 for FSC and 356 for PSC）. A catalog of infrared, optical and radio data is compiled and will be used in further work. Some statistical results show that luminous infrared galaxies are quite different from ultra-luminous infrared galaxies. The AGN fractions of galaxies at different infrared luminosities and the radio-infrared correlations are consistent with the previous studies.

The discovery of 64 luminous infrared galaxies in the LAMOST Complete Spectroscopic Survey of Pointing Area at the Southern Galactic Cap

We report the discovery of 64 luminous infrared galaxies, based on new observations of 20 square degrees from the LAMOST Complete Spectroscopic Survey of Pointing Area at the Southern Galactic Cap and the WISE 22 μm catalog from the AllW ISE Data Release. Half of them are classified as late-type spirals and the others are classified as peculiar/compact galaxies. The peculiar/compact galaxies tend to exhibit higher luminosities and lower stellar masses. We also separate AGNs from HII galaxies in a simple way by examining LAMOST spectra. Those cases show that host AGNs are easily distinguished from others in the mid-infrared color-color diagrams.

The study of Seyfert 2 galaxies with and without infrared broad lines

From the literature, we construct a sample of 25 Seyfert 2 galaxies （S2s）with a broad line region （BLR） detected in near infrared （NIR） spectroscopy and 29with NIR BLRs which were not detected. We find no significant difference betweenthe nuclei luminosity （extinction-corrected [OIII] 5007） and infrared color f 60/f25between the two populations, suggesting that the non-detections of NIR BLRs couldnot be due to low AGN luminosity or contamination from the host galaxy. As ex-pected, we find significantly lower X-ray obscurations in Seyfert 2s with NIR BLRdetection, supporting the unification scheme. However, such a scheme was challengedby the detection of NIR BLRs in heavily X-ray obscured sources, especially in sixof them with Compton-thick X-ray obscuration. The discrepancy could be solved bythe clumpy torus model and we propose a toy model demonstrating that IR-thin X-ray-thick S2s could be viewed at intermediate inclinations and compared with thoseIR-thick X-ray-thick S2s. We note that two of the IR-thin X-ray-thick S2s （NGC 1386and NGC 7674） experienced X-ray transitions, i.e. from Compton-thin to Compton-thick appearance or vice versa based on previous X-ray observations, suggesting thatX-ray transitions could be common in this special class of objects.

Mid-to-Far Infrared Spectral Energy Distribution of Galaxies in the Spitzer First Look Survey Field

We made model fitting to the mid-to-far infrared spectral energy distributions （SEDs） for different categories of galaxies in the main extragalactic field of the Spitzer First Look Survey with the aid of spectroscopic information from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We find that the mid-to-far infrared SEDs of HII galaxies, mixture type galaxies and LINERs can be well fitted by the one-parameter （α） dust model of Dale et al. plus the 13 Gyr dust-free elliptical galaxy model. The statistics of α values indicates that all these galaxies tend to be quiescent, although the HII galaxies are relatively more active than the LINERs. The midinfrared SEDs of absorption galaxies are well fitted simply by the 13 Gyr dust-free elliptical galaxy template, and the near-to-mid infrared SEDs of QSOs can be represented by AGN NGC 5506.

Radio Identifications of Markarian Galaxies and the Correlation between Radio and Far-Infrared Properties

By checking DSS optical images and NVSS radio images, 782 Markarian galaxies were identified to be NVSS radio sources. A comparison of the radio luminosity at 1.4GHz and the far-infrared （FIR） luminosity for 468 “normal” galaxies shows a tight correlation. Most of the Seyfert galaxies and quasars follow the radio-FIR relation deduced from the “normal” galaxy sample, but with a somewhat larger scatter. A total 167 Markarian galaxies, comprising 100 “normal” galaxies, 66 Seyfert galaxies and one quasar, have either excess radio emission or much lower FIR spectral index α（25 μm, 60 μm）. These galaxies may be classified as “AGN-powered”. For “normal” galaxies, the average q value （defined as the log ratio between FIR and radio luminosities） is 2.3. There seems a trend for q to slightly decrease with increasing radio luminosity. This may imply that the ongoing active star formation in galaxies with higher radio luminosities is more efficient in heating the cosmic-ray electrons.

Spectral energy distribution similarity of the local galaxies and the 3.6μm selected galaxies from the Spitzer Extended Deep Survey

The Spitzer Extended Deep Survey(SEDS)as a deep and wide mid-infrared(MIR)survey project provides a sample of 500000+sources spreading 1.46 square degree and a depth of 26 AB mag(3σ).Combining with the previous available data,we build a PSF-matched multi-wavelength photometry catalog from u band to 8μm.We fit the SEDS galaxies spectral energy distributions by the local galaxy templates.The results show that the SEDS galaxy can be fitted well,indicating the high redshift galaxy(z~1)shares the same templates with the local galaxies.This study would facilitate the further study of the galaxy luminosity and high redshift mass function.

Clustering of K-band selected local galaxies

We present a detailed clustering analysis of a large K-band selected local galaxy sample, which is constructed from the 2MASS and the SDSS and consists of 82486 galaxies with 10 〈 K 〈 13.5 and 0.01 〈 z 〈 0.1. The two-point correlation function of the magnitude-limited sample in real space at small scales is well described by the power law ∈（r） = （r/6.44 ± 0.23）^-1.81±0.02. The pairwise velocity dispersion is derived from the anisotropic two-point correlation function and we find the dispersion δ12 = 685 ± 17 kms^-1 if scale invariance is assumed, which is larger than values measured in the optical bands of the selected galaxy samples. We further investigate the dependence of the two-point correlation function and the δ12 on the g- r color and the K- band luminosity, and obtain similar results to previous works in optical bands. Comparing a mock galaxy sample with our real data indicates that the semi-analytical model cannot mimic the δ12 in observation, although it can approximate the two-point correlation function within measurement uncertainties.

Stellar mass estimation based on IRAC photometry for Spitzer SWIRE-field galaxies

We analyze the feasibility of estimating the stellar mass of galaxies by mid-infrared luminosities based on a large sample of galaxies cross-identified from Spitzer SWIRE fields and the SDSS spectrographic survey.We derived the formulae to calculate the stellar mass by using IRAC 3.6μm and 4.5μm luminosities.The massto-luminosity ratios of IRAC 3.6μm and 4.5μm luminosities are more sensitive to the star formation history of galaxies than to other factors,such as the intrinsic extinction,metallicity and star formation rate.To remove the effect of star formation history,we used g-r color to recalibrate the formulae and obtain a better result.Researchers must be more careful when estimating the stellar mass of low metallicity galaxies using our formulae.Due to the emission from dust heated by the hottest young stars,luminous infrared galaxies present higher IRAC 4.5μm luminosities compared to IRAC 3.6μm luminosities.For most of type-Ⅱ AGNs,the nuclear activity cannot enhance 3.6μm and 4.5μm luminosities compared with normal galaxies.Star formation in our AGNhosting galaxies is also very weak,almost all of which are early-type galaxies.

Soft X-ray Properties of Ultraluminous IRAS Galaxies

We report on the results of cross-correlation of a sample of 903 Ultraluminous IRAS galaxies (ULIRGs) with the ROSAT-All Sky Survey Bright Source Catalogue and the ROSAT archived pointing observations. The sample of ULIRGs has been compiled from the recently released PSCz redshift survey. In total, 35 ULIRGs are securely detected by the ROSAT All-Sky Survey and pointing observations, five of which are blazars. The statistical properties of these sources in the soft X-ray band are determined and compared with their properties in other wavebands. We find that the ratio of the soft X-ray to the far-infrared flux spans about five orders of magnitude and reaches Values of about unity. This ratio is a good indicator of the main energy source of ULIRGs. Those with soft X-ray to far-infrared flux exceeding 0.01 are probably powered by accretion onto central supermassive black holes while those with ratios smaller than 0.001 are probably powered by starbursts or other heating processes, or are Compton thick sources. Some ULIRGs have energy contributions from both. This ratio is low for most ULIRGs and hyperluminous infrared galaxies, which explains their low detection rate by ROSAT and ASCA. We also find that some ULIRGs have a similar soft X-ray luminosity vs. temperature relation to that for groups of galaxies and elliptical galaxies, suggesting a common origin of these systems. Our study also reveals a tight correlation between the hardness ratio and the soft X-ray luminosity for Seyfert 1s/QSOs.

The Evolution of Advanced Merger (U)LIRGs on the Color-Stellar Mass Diagram

Based on a sample of 79 local advanced merger （adv-merger） （U）LIRGs, we search for evidence of quenching processes by investigating the distributions of star formation history indicators （EW（Ha）, EW（HfiA） and D,（4000）） on the NUV-r color-mass and SFR-M, diagrams. The distributions of EW（Ha） and Dn（4000） on the NUV-r color-mass diagram show clear trends that at a given stellar mass, galaxies with redder NUV-r colors have smaller EW（Ha） and larger Dn （4000）. The reddest adv-merger （U）LIRGs close to the green valley mostly have Dn（4000）〉 1.4. In addition, in the SFR-M, diagram, as the SFR decreases, the EW（Ha） decreases and the Dn （4000） increases, implying that the adv-merger （U）LIRGs on the star formation main sequence have more evolved stellar populations than those above the main sequence. These results indicate that a fraction of the adv-merger （U）LIRGs have already exhibited signs of fading from the starburst phase and that the NUV-r reddest adv-merger （U）LIRGs are likely at the initial stage of post-starbursts with an age of - 1 Gyr, which is consistent with the gas exhaustion time-scales. Therefore, our results offer additional support for the fast evolutionary track from the blue cloud to the red sequence.

X-ray absorption and 9.7μm silicate feature as a probe of AGN torus structure

The dusty torus plays a vital role in unifying active galactic nuclei(AGNs).However,the physical structure of the torus remains largely unclear.Here we present a systematical investigation of the torus mid-infrared(MIR)spectroscopic feature,i.e.,the 9.7μm silicate line,of 175 AGNs selected from the Swift/BAT Spectroscopic Survey(BASS).Our sample is constructed to ensure that each of the 175 AGNs has Spizter/IRS MIR,optical,and X-ray spectroscopic coverage.Therefore,we can simultaneously measure the silicate strength,optical emission lines,and X-ray properties(e.g.,the column density and the intrinsic X-ray luminosity).We show that,consistent with previous works,the silicate strength is weakly correlated with the hydrogen column density(N_H^X),albeit with large scatters.For X-ray unobscured AGNs,the silicate-strength-derived V-band extinction and the broad-Hα-inferred one are both small;however,for X-ray obscured AGNs,the former is much larger than the latter.In addition,we find that the optical type1 AGNs with strong X-ray absorption on average show significant silicate absorption,indicating that their X-ray absorption might not be caused by dust-free gas in the broad-line region.Our results suggest that the distribution and structure of the obscuring dusty torus are likely to be very complex.We test our results against the smooth and clumpy torus models and find evidence in favor of the clumpy torus model.

Optical/IR studies of Be stars in NGC 6834 with emphasis on two specific stars

We present optical and infrared photometric and spectroscopic studies of two Be stars in the 70-80-Myr-old open cluster NGC 6834. NGC 6834（1） has been reported as a binary from speckle interferometric studies whereas NGC 6834（2） may possibly be a γ Cas-like variable. Infrared photometry and spectroscopy from the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope （UKIRT）, and optical data from various facilities are combined with archival data to understand the nature of these candidates. High signal-to-noise near-IR spectra obtained from UKIRT have enabled us to study the optical depth effects in the hydrogen emission lines of these stars. We have explored the spectral classification scheme based on the intensity of emission lines in the H and K bands and contrasted it with the conventional classification based on the intensity of hydrogen and helium absorption lines. This work also presents hitherto unavailable UBV CCD photometry of NGC 6834, from which the evolutionary state of the Be stars is identified.

Weighing super-massive black holes with narrow Fe Kα line

It has been suggested that the narrow cores of the Fe Ka emission lines in Active Galactic Nuclei （AGNs） are likely produced in the torus, the inner radius of which can be measured by observing the lag time between the V and K band flux variations. In this paper, we compare the virial products of the infrared time lags, and the narrow Fe Ka widths for 10 type 1 AGNs, with the black hole masses from other techniques. We found the narrow Fe Ka line width is in average 2.6＋0.9-0.4 times broader than expected, assuming an isotropic velocity distribution of the torus at the distance measured by the infrared lags. We propose the thick disk model of the torus may explain the observed larger line width. Another possibility is the contamination by emission from the broad line region or the outer accretion disk. Alternatively, the narrow iron line might originate from the inner most part of the obscuring torus within the sublimation radius, while the infrared emission may be from the outer cooler part. We note the correlations between the black hole masses based on this new technique and those based on other known techniques are statistically insignificant. We argue that this could be attributed to the small sample size and the very large uncertainties in the measurements of iron K line widths. The next generation of X-ray observatories could help verify the origin of the narrow iron Ka line and the reliability of this new technique.