Forbidden Fe II 1.64 micron emission in high-luminosity and ultraluminous IRAS galaxies

Abstract

The forbidden Fe II 1.64-micron luminosity in high luminosity (HL) and ultraluminous (UL) IRAS galaxies (IRGs) is here predicted on the basis of the Colina and Perez-Olea (1992) starburst-and-radio hypernovae scenario, as are the forbidden Fe II 1.64 micron, radio, and Br-gamma luminosity rates that can be used to characterize sunbursts in such heavily obscured environments as HL and UL IRGs' buried starbursts. The starburst-and-radio hypernovae hypothesis is consistent with these observations if a low upper mass limit, of only 25-30 solar masses, is considered.