MULTI-WAVELENGTH STUDY OF STARBURST NGC 3690

we are conducting a multiwavelength study of the nearby luminous starburst system ngc 3690, using groundbased near infrared and now, isocam observations. the goal of this study is to determine the dominate energy mechanism starburst or dustenshrouded agn responsible for the luminous infrared light emanating from this interacting/merger galaxy. in favor of the starburst hypothesis, we have already discovered an embedded supernova. this galaxy is well studied from the optical to radio, as well as at farinfrared wavebands with iras, but due to atmospheric restrictions is only partially observed in the midinfrared where a large fraction of the total luminosity is emitted. we propose to map ngc 3690 from 4 to 15 microns using isocam with several lw filters. these broadband observations will reveal embedded starburst clusters and associated hot dust, as well as the spatial distribution of the pahs. finally, these isocam data will complete genzel.s sws, lws, and phot spectroscopic observations of ngc 3690 giving full coverage of this important galaxy in the final iso database. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]