We propose to obtain photometric data over the 4-200 micron range for a sample
of 25 IRAS galaxies selected in narrow redshift and IRAS 100 micron flux
ranges, but with a wide range of 60 micron/100 micron colours and, hence, star
formation properties: this is a subset of the sample we are using in a wider
study of the relationship between star formation and morphological indications
of interactions and dynamical disturbance in IRAS galaxies.
These data are vital to our project because they will provide good
determinations of the far-infrared spectral energy distributions of the
galaxies, which we will model, to determine the contributions to the
far-infrared emission of the galaxies from cirrus, starburst and Seyfert
components. In conjunction with an existing analysis of the morphological
disturbance exhibited by these galaxies in the optical, and other ongoing
follow-up data, these results will be used to  reveal the origin of star
formation and far-infrared emission in IRAS galaxies.
The galaxies in our sample have modest far-infrared luminosities, making our
study important from two points of view. Firstly, it constitutes a
lower-luminosity analogue to the many studies currently underway of
interaction-induced star formation in ultraluminous IRAS galaxies, enabling us
to see how the prevalence and properties of starbursts resulting from galaxy
interactions and mergers vary with the nature of the interacting galaxies
and of the interaction itself. Secondly, the galaxies in our sample are
typical of those found in the redshift surveys of IRAS galaxies widely used in
large-scale structure studies, so an understanding of the origin of
their far-infrared emission and its correlation with environment will
help reveal how IRAS galaxies trace mass in the Universe.