Luminous infrared galaxy
Galaxy with luminosity above 1011 L☉
Luminous infrared galaxies or LIRGs are galaxies with luminosities above 1011 L☉. They are also referred to as submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) through their normal method of detection. LIRGs are more abundant than starburst galaxies, Seyfert galaxies and quasi-stellar objects at comparable luminosity. Infrared galaxies emit more energy in the infrared than at all other wavelengths combined. A LIRG's luminosity is 100 billion times that of the Sun.
Galaxies with luminosities above 1012 L☉ are known as ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). Galaxies exceeding 1013 L☉ are characterised as hyper-luminous infrared galaxies (HyLIRGs). Those exceeding 1014 L☉ are extremely luminous infrared galaxies (ELIRGs). Many of the LIRGs and ULIRGs are showing interactions and disruptions. Many of these types of galaxies spawn about 100 new stars a year as compared to the Milky Way which spawns one a year; this helps create the high level of luminosity.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Luminous infrared galaxy” is galaxy with luminosity above 1011 L☉. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Luminous, infrared and galaxy, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “galaxy with luminosity above 1011 L☉” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1565388. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1011, 1012, 1013 and 1014.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
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Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Luminous infrared galaxy”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Luminous infrared galaxy primary sources, Luminous infrared galaxy archive and Luminous research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Luminous infrared galaxy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.