Events
IPAC organizes and hosts a number of meetings and conferences.
We also host seminars every Wednesday from 12-1pm in IPAC's Large Conference Room (102) except where noted. Directions can be found on our visitor information page. Pizza and soda are available for purchase at a modest fee.
To get seminar notification emails, sign up here. There is a Caltech iCal feed here. If you are interested in presenting a talk or seminar, please contact Colin Borys (Extragalactic), Luisa Rebull (Galactic) or Stephen Kane (Solar System/Exoplanets).
Special Note: We are in the process of transferring data from our old seminar web page to this one. A list of all seminars prior to August 2011 is not currently available, but those interested can check the old site. For more astronomy related talks around Pasadena, check Solange's list.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Nearby Luminous Infrared Galaxies (LIRGs) act as local analogs of the extreme star forming environments that dominate star formation at z~1 and thus play a central role in our understanding of galaxy evolution. I will present the mid- IR properties for the Great Observatories All-Sky LIRG Survey (GOALS) sample of 182 nearby LIRGs and 20 ULIRGs as derived from a multi-component spectral decomposition of low resolution spectroscopy from Spitzer IRS. The results derived from our detailed fitting technique are combined with data from other wavelengths to explore the cause of the differences in the dust characteristics (ionization state, grain size) for dusty versus unobscured LIRGs. I also trace the relative PAH emission and dust obscuration throughout the merging process. Finally, I will also present the first results of a multiwavelength study to take a census of global measurements of cold dust, molecular gas, and neutral hydrogen in the GOALS (U)LIRGs.
