A national virtual observatory (NVO) science case: Properties of very luminous IR galaxies (VLIRGs)

The class of Very Luminous IR Galaxies (VLIRGs) is defined by those galaxies whose IR luminosities are between 10(11) and 10(12)L(o). They represent a key class of objects in the study of galaxy formation and evolution. For example, they offer the opportunity to study how the fundamental astrophysical and morphological properties of galaxies vary with IR luminosity, providing the link between the dynamically diverse Ultra-Luminous IR Galaxies (ULIRGs: L-IR > 10(12)L(o)) and normal galaxies. Furthermore, VLIRGs may be closely related to several recently identified cosmological populations in the sense that VLIRGs may be either their low-redshift analogs or the direct result of their evolution: EROs (Extremely Red Objects), GRB host galaxies, IR-selected AGN, faint SCUBA submm sources, or galaxies comprising the IR background. We describe a prototype analysis of the multi-wavelength properties of VLIRGs. Our research plan utilizes data and catalogs from a variety of distributed astronomical information sources. This manually intensive research exercise represents one of many possible NVO science scenarios that will be greatly facilitated and made much more efficient through the application of planned NVO resources. Support for this work was provided in part by NASA (NAS5-99226) and NSF (AST0122449).