S. Satyapal 1, M. L. Luhman 2, J. Fischer 2, P. E. Clegg 3, P. Cox 4, M. A. Greenhouse 5, S. D. Lord 6, H. A. Smith 7, G. J. Stacey 8, & S. J. Unger 3
1 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
2 Naval Research Laboratory
3 Queen Mary and Westfield College
4 Institut d'Astrophysicque Spatiale
5 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
6 California Institute of Technology
7 Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
8 Cornell University
We present Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) Long Wavelength Spectrometer (LWS) and ground-based near-infrared Fabry-Perot imaging observations of the interacting galaxy system Arp 299. Our observations can be explained entirely by a starburst model for this galaxy system. The putative active galactic nucleus (AGN) in source A does not dominate the properties of this source:(1) we see no evidence of broad recombination lines; (2)strong 3.29 micron dust feature emission, known to be absent or weak in AGN, is detected from this source, and; (3) the LWS fine structure line ratios can be explained entirely by a simple starburst model. Stellar evolutionary synthesis codes are coupled with the photoionization code, CLOUDY to derive parameters for the starburst, such as the age, initial mass function, and luminosity. Recent photodissociation region codes are coupled with CLOUDY to self-consistently model all LWS fine structure lines. Using this nearby luminous infrared galaxy as a template, we discuss the implications of the current study for interpreting the far-infrared spectra of other infrared bright galaxies.