ABSTRACT

We have obtained 10 μm continuum images of a flux-limited sample of bright infrared galaxies with a spatial resolution of 0.8 arcseconds. All observations were made with UCSD's Mid-Infrared Camera on the Mt. Lemmon 1.5 meter telescope, Tucson, AZ. Most of the galaxies imaged display centrally condensed cores of emission. Two galaxies in our sample, NGC 253 and Markarian 171, are well resolved due to their proximity to the Galaxy and show extended emission. In the case of NGC 253, we have also obtained 20 μm continuum images. In this paper we present some results of our observations of NGC 253.

INTRODUCTION

Among the class of infrared luminous galaxies established by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), NGC 253 is a modest example of the “starburst” type. Due to its proximity to the Galaxy (∼ 3 Mpc), it is well resolved at many wavelengths. NGC 253 is an SABc galaxy with an inclination of 78.5∘. It displays no peculiarities in morphology. Still, within R < 500 pc, the far-infrared luminosity is ∼ 3 x 1O10 L⊙ (Telesco and Harper 1980).

OBSERVATIONS AND RESULTS

The UCSD mid-IR camera, the “Golden Gopher”, operates in the spectral region from 5 to 27 μm using a 20 x 64 element Si : As Impurity Band Conduction (IBC) device manufactured by GenCorp Aerojet Electronics Systems Division.