Byurakan–IRAS Galaxy Pairs as Indicators of Starburst and Galaxy Evolution

The Byurakan–IRAS galaxies (BIG objects; Mickaelian 1995) are the result of a project of optical identifications of IRAS Point Source Catalog (PSC; IRAS 1988) in a 1500 square degree high-galactic latitude (|b|>15°) area based on the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) images and the Digitized First Byurakan Survey (DFBS, or digitized Markarian survey) low-dispersion spectra. As a result, 1278 galaxies have been identified (as well as galactic objects, Byurakan–IRAS Stars [BIS]), including 42 PSC sources identified with 103 galaxies that make up 30 physical pairs and 12 multiples.