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Using the AKARI, Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data, we investigated the relation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) mass (MPAH), very small grain mass (MVSG), big grain mass (MBG) and stellar mass (Mstar) with galaxy merger for 55 star-forming galaxies at redshift z < 0.2. Using the SDSS image at z < 0.1 and the HST image at z > 0.1, we divided the galaxies into merger galaxies and non-merger galaxies with the morphological parameter asymmetry A, and quantified merging stages of galaxies based on the morphological indicators, the second-order momentum of the brightest 20 per cent region M20 and the Gini coefficient. We find that MPAH/MBG of merger galaxies tend to be lower than that of non-merger galaxies and there are no systematic differences of MVSG/MBG and MBG/Mstar between merger galaxies and non-merger galaxies. We find that galaxies with very low MPAH/MBG seem to be merger galaxies at late stages. These results suggest that PAHs are partly destroyed at late stages of merging processes. Furthermore, we investigated MPAH/MBG variations in radiation field intensity strength G0 and the emission line ratio of [O I] λ6300/Hα that is a shock tracer for merger galaxies and find that MPAH/MBG decreases with increasing both G0 and [O I]/Hα. PAHdestruction is likely to be caused by two processes: strong radiation fields and large-scale shocks during merging processes of galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have carried out a statistical study on the mid- and far-infrared (IR) properties of Galactic IR bubbles observed by Spitzer. Using the Spitzer 8μm images, we estimated the radii and covering fractions of their shells, and categorized them into closed, broken, and unclassified bubbles with our data analysis method. Then, using the AKARI all-sky images at wavelengths of 9, 18, 65, 90, 140, and 160μm, we obtained the spatial distributions and the luminosities of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH),warm, and cold dust components by decomposing six-band spectral energy distributions with model fitting. As a result, 180 sample bubbles show a wide range of total IR luminosities corresponding to the bolometric luminosities of a single B-type star to many O-type stars. For all the bubbles, we investigated relationships between the radius, luminosities, and luminosity ratios, and found that there are overall similarities in the IR properties among the bubbles regardless of their morphological types. In particular, they follow a power-law relation with an index of ~3 between the total IR luminosity and radius, as expected from the conventional picture of the StrÖmgren sphere. The exceptions are large broken bubbles; they indicate higher total IR luminosities, lower fractional luminosities of the PAH emission, and dust heating sources located nearer to the shells. We discuss the implications of those differences for a massive star-formation scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]