The far-IR emission from compact groups of galaxies

The existence of a far-infrared (FIR), enhancement in galaxies which are members of compact groups (CGs) has long been a matter of debate. We have re-processed the IRAS survey and pointed observations with the Pyramid Maximum Entropy Method in order to fully exploit the imaging capabilities of IRAS. At higher spatial resolution most groups are resolved into individual sources, thus supporting the hypothesis that galaxies in CGs do not have any FIR excess. This result implies that either the dynamic status of the groups and;ʹ or the physics governing the interaction of galaxies in dense environment are poorly understood.