We present AKARI near- to far-infrared images of the nearby edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 3079 in 10 photometric bands .
The spectral energy distribution consists of continuum emission from dust with a single temperature of 28–33 K together with strong mid-infrared emission features from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ( PAHs ) .
We derive the dust masses of 5.6 \times 10 ^ { 6 } \MO and 1.4 \times 10 ^ { 7 } \MO for the central 4 kpc region and the whole galaxy , respectively , and find that a gas-to-dust mass ratio is unusually high in the central region ( \sim 1100 ) and even for the whole galaxy ( \sim 860 ) .
The ratio of the surface brightness distribution at the wavelength of 7 \mathrm { \mu m } to that at 11 \mathrm { \mu m } suggests that the properties of PAHs have spatial variations .
Emission from ionized and neutral PAHs is relatively strong in the center and the disk regions , respectively , suggesting stronger radiation field and thus relatively active star formation in the center .
Yet the total infrared luminosities of the galaxy indicate rather low star formation rates .
These results suggest that NGC 3079 is in an early-phase starburst stage .