The Starburst-agn Connection: Integral Field Spectroscopy of Merging and Seyfert 2 Galaxies

Infrared bright galactic nuclei may be powered by accretion of matter onto a black hole, a burst of new star formation, or both of these processes. To gain insight into such processes we have used integral field spectroscopy to observe a sample of galaxies with identified AGN or nuclear starbursts. We confirm the presence of a starburst in the nuclear regions of the galaxies IC 3639, MRK 477, NGC 2623, and NGC 3227. Using diagnostics dervied from the H and K-band spectra and the stellar synthesis model Starburst 99 we determine ages for the starburts. We find self-consistent starburst models to account for the Hydrogen recombination line emission, the [Fe II] emission from supernova remnants, and the K-band continuum luminosity. We confirm that these Seyfert 2 nuclei do indeed have associated starbursts. Subject headings: galaxies: starburst — galaxies: Seyfert 2 — infrared: galaxies