Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 May 2016
A new sample of IRAS galaxies at high galactic latitudes has been built by optically identifying IRAS point sources.
In no more than about 100 cases, an apparently interacting system of galaxies is located near the IR source. The large majority are unambiguously identified with a single, relatively isolated galaxy. This confirms that, although galaxy interaction may trigger starburst activity, the IR luminosity in most objects is due to normal star formation in the disc.