Arp 220 LOFAR radio images at 150MHz

We find that a simple three component model can explain most of the observed radio spectrum of the galaxy. When accounting for absorption at 1.4GHz, Arp 220 follows the FIR/radio correlation with q=2.36, and we estimate a star formation rate of 220M_{sun}_/yr. We derive thermal fractions at 1GHz of less than 1% for the nuclei, which indicates that a major part of the UV-photons are absorbed by dust.

International LOFAR observations shows great promise to detect steep spectrum outflows and probe regions of thermal absorption. However, in LIRGs the emission detected at 150MHz does not necessarily come from the main regions of star formation. This implies that high spatial resolution is crucial for accurate estimates of star formation rates for such galaxies at 150MHz.