VV-114, A HIGH INFRARED LUMINOSITY INTERACTING GALAXY SYSTEM

VV 114 is a nearby example of a far-infrared bright, high luminosity (L(FIR) > 10(11) L.) interacting galaxy pair. At a redshift of z=0.02 it provides an opportunity to study SuCh interacting galaxies at a favorable spatial scale (390 pc arcsec-1). This paper presents new high resolution near-infrared (1.25-3.7 mum) and visible images, and visible spectra of VV 114. A picture emerges of a system with widespread massive star formation throughout both interacting galaxies. The brighter visible galaxy (VV 114W) shows H II region-like emission in both visual spectra and near-infrared colors, with no more than two magnitudes of visual extinction. The brightest peak of infrared and radio emission (VV 114E) has extreme near-infrared colors and is located at a minimum of visible emission. This indicates a large concentration of dust in the nucleus of VV 114E that is nearly entirely obscuring a major luminosity source in this system.