An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A member of the most extreme galaxies in terms of their luminosities and unusual hot → dust temperatures. The → infrared emission from HDOGs is dominated by obscured accretion onto a central → supermassive black hole (SMBH), in most cases without significant contribution from → star formation. The large contrast between the underlying → host galaxy and the hyper-luminous emission from the → active galactic nucleus (AGN) implies that either the SMBH is much more massive than expected for the stellar mass of its host, or is radiating well above its → Eddington limit. The most extreme of these remarkable systems known is → W2246-0526.

See also: → hot; → dust; → obscure; → galaxy.