Discovery of hyperluminous infrared galaxies using Spitzer and SHARC-II

We have used observations taken as part of the Bootes Spitzer GTO program to pre-select high redshift luminous star-forming galaxy candidates. Subsequent ground-based sub-millimeter imaging using SHARC-II at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory detected several objects, including one particularly exotic one: An extremely bright infrared galaxy with an apparent luminosity in excess of 10(13.5)L(circle dot). It has a spectral energy distribution similar to that of Arp 220, though appears to be at a much higher redshift. Although lensing is one possible explanation, this object has helped refine the selection method, and hints at a way to pre-select similar objects using Mid-IR silicate absorption features.