We crossmatch AKARI all-sky survey with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 10 (SDSS DR10) and the Final Data Release of the Two-Degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) and identify 118 Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs) and one Hyperluminous Infrared Galaxy (HLIRG). We find 40 new ULIRGs and one new HLIRG. ULIRGs in our sample are interacting galaxies or ongoing/post mergers. This is consistent with the fact that ULIRGs are major mergers of disk galaxies. We find that compared to local star forming SDSS galaxies of similar mass, local ULIRGs have lower oxygen abundances and this is consistent with the previous studies.

Debris disks are circumstellar dust disks around main-sequence stars. They are important observational clues to understanding the planetary system formation. The zodiacal light is the thermal emission from the dust disk in our Solar system. For a comprehensive understanding of the nature and the evolution of dust disks around main-sequence stars, we try a comparative study of debris disks and the zodiacal light. We search for debris disks using the AKARI mid-infrared all-sky point source catalog. By applying accurate ux estimate of the photospheric emission based on the follow-up near-infrared observations with IRSF, we have improved the detection rate of debris disks. For a detailed study of the structure and grain properties in the zodiacal dust cloud, as an example of dust disks around main-sequence stars, we analyze the AKARI mid-infrared all-sky diffuse maps. As a result of the debris disks search, we found old (>1 Gyr) debris disks which have large excess emission compared to their age, which cannot be explained simply by the conventional steady-state evolution model. From the zodiacal light analysis, we nd the possibility that the dust grains trapped in the Earth's resonance orbits have increased by a factor of 3 in the past 20 years. Combining these results, we discuss the non-steady processes in debris disks and the zodiacal light.

We present the first measurement of the angular two-point correlation function for AKARI 90μm point sources, detected outside of the Milky Way plane and selected as candidates for extragalactic sources. This is the first measurement of the large-scale angular clustering of galaxies selected in the far-infrared after IRAS. We find a positive clustering signal in both hemispheres extending up to ~ 40 degrees, without any significant fluctuations at larger scales. The observed correlation function is well fitted by a power law function. However, southern galaxies seem to be more strongly clustered than northern ones and the difference is statistically significant. The reason for this difference - technical or physical - is still to be found.

We will report our recent study on the properties of more than 1,600 galaxies detected by the AKARI All-Sky Survey with physical quantities based on optical and 21-cm observations, to understand the physics determining the infrared spectral energy distribution (Totani et al., 2011). We discover a tight linear correlation for normal star-forming galaxies between the radiation field strength of dust heating (corresponding to dust temperature) and the galactic-scale infrared radiation field, LTIR/R2 . This is the tightest correlation of dust temperature ever known, and the dispersion along the mean relation is 13% in dust temperature. This relation can be explained physically by a thin layer of heating sources embedded in a thicker, optically-thick dust screen. We also find that the number of galaxies sharply drops when galaxies become optically thin against dust-heating radiation, indicating that a feedback process to galaxy formation (e.g., by the photoelectric heating) is working when dust-heating radiation is not self-shielded on a galactic scale. We discuss implications from these findings for the MHI -size relation, the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation, and galaxy formation in the cosmological context.

We investigate the relation between star formation activity and PAH 3.3 μm emission. Our targets are mid-infrared-excess galaxies selected from the AKARI all-sky survey point source catalog. We performed AKARI near-infrared spectroscopy for them. As a result, we obtained 2.5 − 5 μm spectra of 79 galaxies, and selected 35 star-forming galaxies out of them. Comparing the PAH 3.3 μm luminosities with the infrared luminosities, we find a linear correlation between them. However, by adding the results from literatures for luminous infrared galaxies and ultra-luminous infrared galaxies that are more luminous than our sample, the ratio of the PAH to the infrared luminosity is found to decrease towards the luminous end.

Many observations have found evidence of the presence of a large number of heavily obscured Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs). However, the nature of this population is only poorly understood because heavy obscuration by dust prevents one from finding them at optical wavelengths. Mid-infrared AGN searches can overcome this obstacle by penetrating through dust and by detecting direct emission from the dust torus. Thus, we can identify most of the AGN population, including type-2 and buried AGNs. Using the AKARI mid-infrared all-sky survey, we performed an AGN search in the nearby universe. Utilizing the 2MASS photometry, we selected mid-infrared-excess sources and carried out near-infrared spectroscopic observations in the AKARI Phase 3. During these follow-up observations, we have found three galaxies that show strong near-infrared red continuum from hot dust with a temperature of about 500 K, but do not show any AGN features in other wavelengths. The most suitable explanation of near-infrared continuum is the presence of central AGNs. Therefore, we conclude that they are AGNs obscured by dust. We performed X-ray observations of the two galaxies with SUZAKU. No detections in the 0.4-10 keV suggest that the column density may be much higher than NH=1023.5cm−2 . Comparing the masses of the host galaxies with those of the SDSS AGNs, we find that the host galaxies of the dusty AGNs discovered with AKARI are less massive populations than those of optically selected AGNs.

We present the properties of dust and the near-infrared spectral features in nearby early-type galaxies. The properties of dust are obtained from the AKARI far-infrared all-sky survey diffuse map. The AKARI/IRC is used for the near-infrared spectra. We improve spectral data with the new dark subtraction method on the basis of the knowledge acquired in our laboratory experiments of the engineering-model detector for the IRC. We have succeeded in fitting the continuum by a power-law function and detecting CO and SiO absorption features in early-type galaxy spectra. Comparing the properties of dust and near-infrared spectral features, we find that the power-law slope depends on dust temperature, but not on the dust mass, which suggests that low-luminosity AGNs may contribute to the changes in the power-law slope and dust temperature.

We carry out a systematic study of Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs) using the AKARI Far Infrared Surveyor (FIS) survey data. The AKARI Infrared Astronomical Satellite observed the whole sky using the four FIS bands covering 50 to 180 microns with ~1 arcmin resolution. The all-sky coverage with high-spatial resolution provides an unprecedented opportunity to study diffuse, extended far-infrared (FIR) sources such as SNRs. We have searched for FIR counterparts to all 274 known Galactic SNRs, and investigate their FIR properties of identified SNRs. We report preliminary results of the study.

Among the AKARI all-sky survey data, the 9 μm diffuse map is crucial to study the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission features on large spatial scales, while the 18 μm map is useful to trace hot dust emission. To utilize these advantages, we have improved the AKARI mid-infrared (MIR) all-sky survey diffuse maps. For example, we have established special methods to remove the effects of the ionizing radiation in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) and of the scattered light from the moon. Using improved diffuse map data, we study the properties of PAHs and dust in the Galactic center region associated with high-energy phenomena.

The interstellar dust grains are formed and supplied to interstellar space from asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars or supernova remnants, and become constituents of the star- and planet-formation processes that lead to the next generation of stars. Both a qualitative, and a compositional study of this cycle are essential to understanding the origin of the pre-solar grains, the missing sources of the interstellar material, and the chemical evolution of our Galaxy. The AKARI/MIR all-sky survey was performed with two mid-infrared photometric bands centered at 9 and 18 μ m . These data have advantages in detecting carbonaceous and silicate circumstellar dust of AGB stars, and the interstellar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons separately from large grains of amorphous silicate. By using the AKARI/MIR All-Sky point source catalogue, we surveyed C-rich and O-rich AGB stars in our Galaxy, which are the dominant suppliers of carbonaceous and silicate grains, respectively. The C-rich stars are uniformly distributed across the Galactic disk, whereas O-rich stars are concentrated toward the Galactic center, following the metallicity gradient of the interstellar medium, and are presumably affected by the environment of their birth place. We will compare the distributions of the dust suppliers with the distributions of the interstellar grains themselves by using the AKARI/MIR All-Sky diffuse maps. To enable discussions on the faint diffuse interstellar radiation, we are developing an accurate AKARI/MIR All-Sky diffuse map by correcting artifacts such as the ionising radiation effects, scattered light from the moon, and stray light from bright sources.

Far-infrared observations provide crucial data for the investigation and characterisation of the properties of dusty material in the Interstellar Medium (ISM), since most of its energy is emitted between ~ 100 and 200 μm . We present the first all-sky image from a sensitive all-sky survey using the Japanese AKARI satellite, in the wavelength range 50 − 180 μm . Covering > 99% of the sky in four photometric bands with four filters centred at 65 μm , 90 μm , 140 μm , and 160 μ m wavelengths, this achieved spatial resolutions from 1 to 2 arcmin and a detection limit of < 10 MJy s r − 1 , with absolute and relative photometric accuracies of < 20%. All-sky images of the Galactic dust continuum emission enable astronomers to map the large-scale distribution of the diffuse ISM cirrus, to study its thermal dust temperature, emissivity and column density, and to measure the interaction of the Galactic radiation field and embedded objects with the surrounding ISM. In addition to the point source population of stars, protostars, star-forming regions, and galaxies, the high Galactic latitude sky is shown to be covered with a diffuse filamentary-web of dusty emission that traces the potential sites of high latitude star formation. We show that the temperature of dust particles in thermal equilibrium with the ambient interstellar radiation field can be estimated by using 90 μm , 140 μm , and 160 μm data. The FIR AKARI full-sky maps provide a rich new data set within which astronomers can investigate the distribution of interstellar matter throughout our Galaxy, and beyond.

ASTRO-F is the next generation Japanese infrared space mission of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. ASTRO-F will be dedicated to an All Sky Survey in the far-infrared in 4 bands from 50-200microns with 2 additional mid-infrared bands at 9microns and 20microns. This will be the first all sky survey in the infrared since the ground breaking IRAS mission almost 20 years ago and the first ever survey at 170microns. The All Sky Survey should detect 10's of millions of sources in the far-infrared bands most of which will be dusty luminous and ultra-luminous star forming galaxies, with as many as half lying at redshifts greater than unity. In this contribution, the ASTRO-F mission and its objectives are reviewed and many of the mission expectations are discussed.