IMAGING SPECTROSCOPY OF THE CIRCINUS GALAXY AGN VERSUS STARBURST RING

we propose cam cvf imaging observations of the circinus galaxy which are necessary to followup interesting iso results already obtained with sws and phts. the iso spectra show prominent pah/dust features and emission lines of h2 and ions spanning a wide range of ionization energies. due to the large apertures of the iso spectrometers, however, we cannot separate the relative contributions excited by the agn and the starburst ring which we we have also demonstrated to be present by extensive groundbased visible and infrared observations. determining the relative contribution of the starburst and agn to the pah and low excitation ionic lines in particular has become important to answer questions raised by our initial interpretation of the iso spectra using photoionization and radiative transfer dust models. based on our measured iso integrated line fluxes and the size of the starburst ring we expect that the required spectral line images can be obtained with adequate s/n and spatial resolution using the cam lw cvf which covers most of the pah features and the critical neii, neiii and nev ionic lines. circinus is the closest (4 mpc) example of a galaxy containing a luminous agn and surrounding starburst ring and is thus a unique target for the proposed study. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]