Chandra Observing Program Description:

The Chandra component of GOALS involves a Cycle 8 program (Sanders et al., Program #08700551) consisting of X-ray imaging with the ACIS. Observing time was awarded to obtain 15,000 sec integrations of 26 LIRGs and ULIRGs with L_IR > 10^11.67 L_☉, selected from the IRAS Revised Bright Galaxy Sample (RBGS: i.e., 60 μm flux density > 5.24 Jy).

The high level goals of the observations are to:

• Provide a uniform and complete census of AGN and X-ray luminous starbursts in the nearest and brightest LIRGs
• Determine if binary AGN are a common feature of these LIRGs, and if so, when and at what level is the AGN activity triggered in each nucleus
• Establish whether the fueling and growth of massive black holes is correlated in time with the merger phase
• Complement observations with Spitzer (IRAC+MIPS+IRS), HST (ACS), and GALEX

A tabulated target list of the Chandra imaging program is provided here.