Discovery of a Boxy Peanut-shaped Bulge in the Near-Infrared

We report on the discovery of a boxy peanut-shaped bulge in the highly inclined barred Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 7582. The peanut shape is clearly evident in near-infrared JHK images but is obscured by extinction from dust in visible BVR images. These facts suggest that near-infrared imaging surveys will discover a larger number of boxy peanut morphologies than visible surveys, particularly in galaxies with heavy extinction, such as NGC 7582. The bulge in NGC 7582 exhibits strong boxiness compared to other boxy peanut shaped bulges. If the starburst was mediated by the bar, then it is likely that the bar formed in less than a few bar rotation periods, i.e., a few ×108 yr ago. If the bar also caused the peanut, then the peanut formed quickly, on a timescale of a few bar rotation periods.