Oral Presentation

Unveiling the Nature of Luminous Galaxy Mergers with ALMA-WSU and JWST

Author(s): Aaron Evans (NRAO/University and Virginia)

Presenter: Aaron Evans (National Radio Astronomy Observatory)

Local luminous Infrared Galaxies (LIRGs) are observed primarily to be interacting and merging galaxies. They are ideal laboratories for studying stellar nurseries and active galactic nuclei (AGN) in extreme, molecular gas-rich environments. While their strong infrared excesses have made the detection of a large population of LIRGs by far-infrared and sub-millimeter telescopes possible, their dusty nature has hindered the use of optical diagnostics to probe their most energetic regions. ALMA and JWST are complementary tools in filling in the missing pieces of LIRGs studies - ALMA detects the cold ISM out of which stars form, and JWST is sensitive to a range of dust grain sizes and the warm/hot ISM associated with ionizing sources. In this talk, I will cover how the present and WSU-upgraded ALMA, in concert with JWST, are instrumental in providing a well-rounded picture of the nature of energy sources in LIRGs and their effects on their immediate environment.