2005MNRAS.359L..10K

We have resolved the ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) IRAS 09111-1007 with the new 350-µm-optimized Second Generation Submillimeter High Angular Resolution Camera (SHARC II), and present the first submillimetre fluxes and images for the system. IRAS 09111-1007 comprises two interacting luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) with a projected nuclear separation of 39h^–1₇₁kpc. The western galaxy is roughly four times more luminous in the submillimetre than its eastern counterpart. It is an extremely bright LIRG with an active galactic nucleus (AGN). The classification of the eastern source is uncertain: it could be a Seyfert 2 galaxy or a LINER. We highlight IRAS 09111-1007 as a system that necessitates further study: a double AGN ULIRG whose molecular gas content differs from that of other widely separated pairs, and whose ULIRG phase might not be explained by current multiple-merger and/or final-stage ULIRG scenarios.