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Luminous infrared galaxies or LIRGs are galaxies with luminosities, the measurement of brightness, above 10 L☉. They are also referred to as submillimeter galaxies through their normal method of detection. LIRGs are more abundant than starburst galaxies, Seyfert galaxies and quasi-stellar objects at comparable luminosity. Infrared galaxies emit more energy in the infrared than at all other wavelengths combined. A LIRG's luminosity is 100 billion times that of our sun.
Galaxies with luminosities above 10 L☉ are ultraluminous infrared galaxies. Galaxies exceeding 10 L☉ are characterised as hyper-luminous infrared galaxies. Those exceeding 10 L☉ are extremely luminous infrared galaxies. Many of the LIRGs and ULIRGs are showing interactions and disruptions. Many of these types of galaxies spawn about 100 new stars a year as compared to ours which spawns one a year; this helps create the high level of luminosity.