MidInfrared Spectroscopic Diagnostics of Galactic Nuclei.pdfVIP

**FULL TITLE** ASP Conference Series, Vol. **VOLUME**, **YEAR OF PUBLICATION** **NAMES OF EDITORS** Mid-Infrared Spectroscopic Diagnostics of Galactic Nuclei Vassilis Charmandaris the Spitzer/IRS Instrument Team University of Crete, Greece 6 0 Abstract. In this paper I summarize the science motivations, as well as a few 0 mid-infrared spectroscopic methods used to identify the principal mechanisms of 2 energy production in dust enshrouded galactic nuclei. The development of the l various techniques is briefly discussed. Emphasis is given to the use of the data 1 u which are becoming available with the infrared spectrograph (IRS ) on Spitzer, J as well as the results which have been obtained by IRS over the past two years. 3 1 1. Introduction 1 v One of the open issues in extragalactic astronomy is how to quantify the phys- 7 ical mechanisms that contribute to the energy production in galactic nuclei. 9 The most luminous galaxies often display strong evidence of massive star forma- 2 7 tion taking place in their nucleus. This is typically due to the large quantities of 0 atomic and molecular gas driven in their center as a result of instabilities on their 6 disk such as bars, which often form during tidal interactions. It is also widely ac- 0 cepted that most galactic nuclei likely harbor a super-massive black hole (SMBH) / h (see review of Ferrarese Ford 2005). Due to