we propose to carry out a systematic investigation of the fir properties of a sample of 17 of the most luminous fir objects known, 16 of which have fir luminosties greater than 10^13 lsol. these form the largest sample of hyperluminous objects known. moreover, this is the only large sample at truly cosmological distances for which iras has already shown that there is prodigious quantities of dust. it is therefore an ideal sample for detailed study of dust, at a redshift of order unity. we will use the iso observations of these objects to determine the mass and characteristic temperature of the dust. this will allow us to study the interplay between star formation and agn activity within young and possibly forming objects. for instance, if the spectral energy distribution is charactised by predominantly cooler dust(ie <100k), this supports a predominantly star burst origin for the dust emission whereas if the dust is warmer an agn origin for the energy input is more likely. apart from their relatively high redshift these objects are an important sample to study, purely on the basis of their high fir luminosity. studying this sample with a median redshift of order 1 is of crucial importance since this will allow us to compare the dust properties of these objects, with the more thoroughly studied objects at low redshift (ie z=0.1) and with the equally important but very difficult to study objects which iso will study in the redshift range 3 to 5. the iso observations will also be a fundamental ingredient in our ongoing program of multi-wavelength observations of this class fir selected objects from the radio to the hard x-rays.
Instrument
CAM01 , PHT03 , PHT22
Temporal Coverage
1997-01-04T09:48:26Z/1997-06-13T14:26:33Z
Version
1.0
Mission Description
The Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) was the worlds first true orbiting infrared observatory. Equipped with four highly-sophisticated and versatile scientific instruments, it was launched by Ariane in November 1995 and provided astronomers world-wide with a facility of unprecedented sensitivity and capabilities for a detailed exploration of the Universe at infrared wavelengths.
