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AKARI, the first Japanese satellite dedicated to infrared astronomy, was launched on 2006 February 21, and started observations in May of the same year. AKARI has a 68.5 cm cooled telescope, together with two focal-plane instruments, which survey the sky in six wavelength bands from the mid- to far-infrared. The instruments also have the capability for imaging and spectroscopy in the wavelength range 2 - 180 micron in the pointed observation mode, occasionally inserted into the continuous survey operation. The in-orbit cryogen lifetime is expected to be one and a half years. The All-Sky Survey will cover more than 90 percent of the whole sky with higher spatial resolution and wider wavelength coverage than that of the previous IRAS all-sky survey. Point source catalogues of the All-Sky Survey will be released to the astronomical community. The pointed observations will be used for deep surveys of selected sky areas and systematic observations of important astronomical targets. These will become an additional future heritage of this mission., Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, and 3 tables. Accepted for publication in the AKARI special issue of the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan

By exploiting the far-infrared(FIR) and radio correlation, we have performed the Likelihood-Ratio analysis to identify optical counterparts to the far-infrared sources in the Lockman Hole. Using the likelihood ratio analysis and the associated reliability, 44 FIR sources have been identified with radio sources. Redshifts have been obtained for 29 out of 44 identified sources. One hyper-luminous infrared galaxy (HyLIRG) with and four ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) are identified in our sample. The space density of the FIR sources at z = 0.3-0.6 is 4.6\times 10^{-5}Mpc^{-3}, implying a rapid evolution of the ULIRG population. Most of \ISO FIR sources have their FIR-radio ratios similar to star-forming galaxies ARP 220 and M82. At least seven of our FIR sources show evidence for the presence of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) in optical emission lines, radio continuum excess, or X-ray activity. Three out of five (60%) of the ULIRG/HyLIRGs are AGN galaxies. Five of the seven AGN galaxies are within the ROSAT X-ray survey field, and two are within the XMM-Newton survey fields. X-ray emission has been detected in only one source, 1EX030, which is optically classified as a quasar. The non-detection in the XMM-Newton 2-10 keV band suggests a very thick absorption obscuring the central source of the two AGN galaxies. Several sources have an extreme FIR luminosity relative to the optical R-band, L(90\mu\mathrm{m})/L(R) > 500, which is rare even among the local ULIRG population. While source confusion or blending might offer an explanation in some cases, they may represent a new population of galaxies with an extreme activity of star formation in an undeveloped stellar system -- i.e., formation of bulges or young ellipticals., Comment: 55 pages, 16 figures. To appear in AJ

We present the results of a wide-area mapping of the far-infrared continuum emission toward the Orion complex by using a Japanese balloon-borne telescope. The 155-um continuum emission was detected over a region of 1.5 deg^2 around the KL nebula with 3' resolution similar to that of the IRAS 100-um map. Assuming a single-temperature model of the thermal equilibrium dust, maps of the temperature and the optical depth were derived from the 155 um intensity and the IRAS 100 um intensity. The derived dust temperature is 5 - 15 K lower and the derived dust optical thickness were derived from the 155-um intensity and the IRAS 100-um intensity. The derived dust temperature is 5 - 15 K lower and the derived dust optical depth is 5 - 300 times larger than those derived from the IRAS 60 and 100-um intensities due to the significant contribution of the statistically heated very small grains to the IRAS 60-um intensity. The optical-thickness distribution shows a filamentary dust ridge that has a 1.5 degrees extent in the north - south direction and well resembles the Integral-Shaped Filament (ISF) molecular gas distribution. The gas-to-dust ratio derived from the CO molecular gas distribution along the ISF is in the range 30 - 200, which may be interpreted as being an effect of CO depletion due to the photodissociation and/or the freezing on dust grains., Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, to appear in PASJ, Vol. 56, No. 1

We present results of a deep mid-infrared survey in the SSA13 field with the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). In order to probe the near-infrared light at high redshifts, we surveyed the field with the broad band LW2 (5-8.5um) filter of the mid-infrared camera ISOCAM. Adopting a highly redundant imaging strategy for the 23 hour observation and carefully treating gradual changes in the detector responsivity caused by a very high rate of cosmic ray impacts, we succeeded in reaching an 80% completeness limit of 16uJy in the central 7 arcmin2 region. Utilizing the signal-to-noise ratio map, we detected 65 sources down to 6uJy in the 16 arcmin2 field. Integral galaxy number counts at 6.7um are then derived, reaching 1.3e4/deg2 at the faint limit with a slope of -1.6 between 13uJy and 130uJy. Integrating individual sources in this flux range, the resolved fraction of the extragalactic background light at 6.7um is estimated to be 0.56nW/m2/sr. These results, which reach a flux limit three times fainter than those in the Hubble Deep Fields, are in fairly good agreement with a model prediction by Franceschini et al. (1997). Finally, we discuss the relation of distant massive E/S0 galaxies to the faint 6.7um galaxy population., Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures (3 JPEG files), A&A (accepted), an original resolution file is at http://www.ioa.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~ysato/pub/1/sato.ps.gz, v2: several typos corrected

Faint submillimeter sources detected with the Submillimeter Common-User Bolometer Array on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope have faced an identification problem due to the telescope's broad beam profile. Here we propose a new method to identify such submillimeter sources with a mid-infrared image having a finer point spread function. The Infrared Space Observatory has provided a very deep 6.7 um image of the Hawaii Deep Field SSA13. All three faint 850 um sources in this field have their 6.7 um counterparts. They have been identified with interacting galaxy pairs in optical images. These pairs are also detected in the radio. Two of them are optically faint and very red (I>24, I-K>4), one of which has a hard X-ray detection with the Chandra satellite. As these observing properties are similar to those of local ultraluminous infrared galaxies, their photometric redshifts are derived based on submillimeter to mid-infrared flux ratios assuming a spectral energy distribution (SED) of Arp220. Other photometric redshifts are obtained via chi^2 minimization between the available photometry data and template SEDs. Both estimates are in the range z=1-2, in good agreement with a spectroscopic redshift and a millimetric one. The reconstructed Arp220 SEDs with these redshift estimates are consistent with all the photometry data except Chandra's hard X-ray detection. The sources would be a few times more luminous than Arp220. With an assumption that AGN contributions are negligible, it appears that extremely high star formation rates are occurring in galaxies at high redshifts with massive stellar contents already in place., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, ApJL (accepted), a version with color figures at http://www.ioa.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~ysato/pub/2/sato-c.ps.gz

We report on optical and near-infrared (NIR) follow-up spectroscopy of faint far-infrared (FIR) sources found in our deep FIR survey by Kawara et al., Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure. To appear in the proceedings of "AGN Surveys" (IAU Colloquium 184)

Eight luminous quasars with $ -30 < M_B < -27$ at z = 1.4 - 3.7 have been observed in the mid- and far-infrared using ISO. All the quasars have been detected in the mid-infrared bands of ISOCAM, while no far-infrared detections have been made with ISOPHOT. Supplementing ISO observations with photometry in the optical and near-infrared made from the ground mostly within 17 months after the ISO observations, SEDs (Spectral Energy Distributions) from the UV to far-infrared have been obtained. SEDs (Spectral Energy Distributions) from the UV to far-infrared have been obtained while supplementing ISO observations with photometry in the optical and near-infrared made from the ground within 17 months. The SEDs are compared with the MED (Mean spectral Energy Distributions) of low-redshift quasars with $-27 < M_B < -22$. It is shown that our far-infrared observations were limited by confusion noise due to crowded sources., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures: accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

Using the Mid-Infrared Spectrometer on board the Infrared Telescope in Space and the low-resolution grating spectrometer (PHT-S) on board the Infrared Space Observatory, we obtained 820 mid-infrared (5 to 12 $\mu$m) spectra of the diffuse interstellar medium (DIM) in the Galactic center, W51, and Carina Nebula regions. These spectra indicate that the emission is dominated by the unidentified infrared (UIR) emission bands at 6.2, 7.7, 8.6, and 11.2 $\mu$m. The relative band intensities (6.2/7.7 $\mu$m, 8.6/7.7 $\mu$m, and 11.2/7.7 $\mu$m) were derived from these spectra, and no systematic variation in these ratios was found in our observed regions, in spite of the fact that the incident radiation intensity differs by a factor of 1500. Comparing our results with the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) model for the UIR band carriers, PAHs in the DIM have no systematic variation in their size distribution, their degree of dehydrogenation is independent of the strength of UV radiation field, and they are mostly ionized. The latter finding is incompatible with past theoretical studies, in which a large fraction of neutral PAHs is predicted in this kind of environment. A plausible resolution of this discrepancy is that the recombination coefficients for electron and large PAH positive ion are by at least an order of magnitude less than those adopted in past theoretical studies. Because of the very low population of neutral state molecules, photoelectric emission from interstellar PAHs is probably not the dominant source of heating of the diffuse interstellar gas. The present results imply constant physical and chemical properties of the carriers of the UIR emission bands in the DIM., Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

We investigate the characteristics of FIR brightness fluctuations at 90 micron and 170 micron in the Lockman Hole, which were surveyed with ISOPHOT aboard the Infrared Space Observatory(ISO). We first calculated the angular correlation function of each field and then its Fourier transform(the angular Power Spectral Density: PSD) over the spatial frequency range of f=0.05 - 1 arcmin^-1. The PSDs are found to be rather flat at low spatial frequencies (f <= 0.1 arcmin^-1), slowly decreasing toward higher frequencies. These spectra are unlike the power-law ones seen in the IR cirrus fluctuations, and are well explained by randomly distributed point sources. Furthermore, point-to-point comparison between 90 micron and 170 micron brightness shows a linear correlation between them, and the slope of the linear fit is much shallower than that expected from the IR cirrus color, and is consistent with the color of galaxies at low or moderate redshift(z < 1). We conclude that the brightness fluctuations in the Lockman Hole are not caused by the IR cirrus, but are most likely due to faint star-forming galaxies. We also give the constraints on the galaxy number counts down to 35 mJy at 90 micron and 60 mJy at 170 micron, which indicate the existence of a strong evolution down to these fluxes in the counts. The galaxies responsible for the fluctuations also significantly contribute to the cosmic infrared background radiation., Comment: 9 pages with 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

The global star formation rate in high redshift galaxies, based on optical surveys, shows a strong peak at a redshift of z=1.5, which implies that we have already seen most of the formation. High redshift galaxies may, however, emit most of their energy at submillimeter wavelengths if they contain substantial amounts of dust. The dust would absorb the starlight and reradiate it as far-infrared light, which would be redshifted to the submillimeter range. Here we report a deep survey of two blank regions of sky performed at submillimeter wavelengths (450 and 850-micron). If the sources we detect in the 850-micron band are powered by star formation, then each must be converting more than 100 solar masses of gas per year into stars, which is larger than the maximum star formation rates inferred for most optically-selected galaxies. The total amount of high redshift star formation is essentially fixed by the level of background light, but where the peak occurs in redshift for the submillimeter is not yet established. However, the background light contribution from only the sources detected at 850-micron is already comparable to that from the optically-selected sources. Establishing the main epoch of star formation will therefore require a combination of optical and submillimeter studies., Comment: 10 pages + 2 Postscript figures, under embargo at Nature