The following document lists the file abstract/RMCMAHON_HYPR_1_A.abs
from catalogue VI/111.
A plain copy of the file
(without headers/trailers) may be downloaded.
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.