FAR-INFRARED EMISSION FROM SHAKHBAZIAN COMPACT GALAXY GROUPS

Using the IRAS archives, we searched for far-infrared (FIR) counterpar ts of Shakhbazian Compact Groups of Galaxies (SCGGs). Reliable IRAS de tections are identified at the positions of 24 out of 367 SCGGs; anoth er 10 IRAS sources, located within similar to 2 arcmin of SCGGs, are p ossibly associated with the corresponding galaxy groups. Some of these sources are not very reliable. Previous work has shown that the fract ion of E and SO galaxies in a representative sample of SCGGs is 77%, w hile E and SO galaxies comprise about 51% of galaxies in Hickson Compa ct Groups (HCGs). The higher fraction of early Hubble types, combined with their greater distances, explains the low IRAS detection rate of SCGGs (7 - 8%) compared to HCGs (64%). The FIR colors and morphologica l types of galaxies in the groups suggest that active star formation o r Seyfert galaxies may be the main source of the FIR emission in the S CGGs detected by IRAS, perhaps originating as the result of tidal inte ractions in the dense environments of these groups.