An analysis of data from the Spitzer Space Telescope , Hubble Space Telescope , Chandra X-ray Observatory , and AKARI Infrared Astronomy Satellite is presented for the z = 0.036 merging galaxy system II Zw 096 ( CGCG 448-020 ) .
Because II Zw 096 has an infrared luminosity of log ( L _ { IR } / L _ { \sun } ) = 11.94 , it is classified as a Luminous Infrared Galaxy ( LIRG ) , and was observed as part of the Great Observatories All-sky LIRG Survey ( GOALS http : //goals.ipac.caltech.edu ) .
The Spitzer data suggest that 80 % of the total infrared luminosity comes from an extremely compact , red source not associated with the nuclei of the merging galaxies .
The Spitzer mid-infrared spectra indicate no high-ionization lines from a buried active galactic nucleus in this source .
The strong detection of the 3.3 \micron and 6.2 \micron PAH emission features in the AKARI and Spitzer spectra also implies that the energy source of II Zw 096 is a starburst .
Based on Spitzer infrared imaging and AKARI near-infrared spectroscopy , the star formation rate is estimated to be 120 M _ { \sun } \mathrm { yr ^ { -1 } } and > 45 M _ { \sun } \mathrm { yr ^ { -1 } } , respectively .
Finally , the high-resolution B , I , and H -band images show many star clusters in the interacting system .
The colors of these clusters suggest at least two populations – one with an age of 1 - 5 Myr and one with an age of 20 - 500 Myr , reddened by 0 - 2 magnitudes of visual extinction .
The masses of these clusters span a range between 10 ^ { 6 } -10 ^ { 8 } M _ { \sun } .
This starburst source is reminiscent of the extra-nuclear starburst seen in NGC 4038/9 ( the Antennae Galaxies ) and Arp 299 but approximately an order of magnitude more luminous than the Antennae .
The source is remarkable in that the off-nuclear infrared luminosity dominates the enitre system .