This paper presents long slit CCD spectroscopy and X-ray data of 283 AGN detected in the ROSAT-All Sky Survey (RASS). Basis of the sample is the pre-identification of 4651 RASS sources on 134 sky fields (covering in total ~3500sq.deg.). The 283 presented AGN were selected from 1253 AGN candidates resulting from the pre-identification work.
AGN-host connection in partially obscured AGNs. I.
Short Name:
J/ApJ/679/86
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
The goal of our serial papers is to examine the evolutionary connection between an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and star formation in the AGN's host galaxy for partially obscured AGNs (i.e., Seyfert 1.8 and 1.9 galaxies). Taking advantage of these galaxies, the properties of both components can be studied together by direct measurements. In this paper, we focus on broad-line composite galaxies (composite AGNs), which are located between the theoretical and empirical separation lines in the [NII]/H{alpha} versus [OIII]/H{beta} diagram. These galaxies are selected from the composite galaxies provided by the SDSS DR4 MPA/JHU catalogs. After we reanalyze the spectra, we perform a fine classification for the 85 composite AGNs in terms of Baldwin-Phillips-Terlevich (BPT) diagrams. All objects located below the three theoretical separation lines are associated with a young stellar population (<1Gyr), while either a young or old stellar population is identified in the individual multiply classified objects. The multiply classified objects with very old stellar populations are located in the LINER region in the [OI]/H{alpha} versus [OIII]/H{beta} diagram. We then consider the connection between AGNs and star formation to derive the key results. The Eddington ratio inferred from the broad H{alpha} emission, the age of the stellar population of the AGN's host as assessed by D_n_(4000), and the line ratio [OI]/H{alpha} are found to be related to each other.
We present the results of morphological and colour analysis of X-ray detected AGN in the SXDS field. X-ray data were gathered from the XMM-Newton scientific archive, and were reduced by our team using the standard SAS procedures. The obtained catalogue of 1121 X-ray emitters was cross-matched with the publicly available optical catalogue (Furusawa et al., 2008, Cat. J/ApJS/176/1), using a cross-matched radius of 3 arcsec and obtaining 806 optical counterparts. For these objects the photometric redshifts, K-corrections, morphological, X-ray, and rest-frame colour properties were measured and analysed.
We use Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys images and a photometric catalog of the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field to analyze morphologies of the host galaxies of ~400 active galactic nucleus (AGN) candidates at redshifts 0.3<z<1.0. We compare the AGN hosts with a sample of nonactive galaxies drawn from the COSMOS field to match the magnitude and redshift distribution of the AGN hosts. We perform two-dimensional surface brightness modeling with GALFIT to yield host galaxy and nuclear point source magnitudes. X-ray-selected AGN host galaxy morphologies span a substantial range that peaks between those of early-type, bulge-dominated and late-type, disk-dominated systems. We also measure the asymmetry and concentration of the host galaxies. Unaccounted for, the nuclear point source can significantly bias results of these measured structural parameters, so we subtract the best-fit point source component to obtain images of the underlying host galaxies. Our concentration measurements reinforce the findings of our two-dimensional morphology fits, placing X-ray AGN hosts between early- and late-type inactive galaxies. AGN host asymmetry distributions are consistent with those of control galaxies.
We combine data from two all-sky surveys in order to study the connection between the infrared and hard X-ray (>10keV) properties for local active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The Swift Burst Alert Telescope all-sky survey provides an unbiased, flux-limited selection of hard X-ray-detected AGNs. Cross-correlating the 22 month hard X-ray survey (Tueller et al. 2010, Cat. J/ApJS/186/378) with the AKARI all-sky survey (AKARI/PSCs; Ishihara et al. 2010, Cat. II/297; Yamamura et al. 2010, Cat. II/298), we studied 158 AGNs detected by the AKARI instruments. We find a strong correlation for most AGNs between the infrared (9, 18, and 90{mu}m) and hard X-ray (14-195keV) luminosities, and quantify the correlation for various subsamples of AGNs. Partial correlation analysis confirms the intrinsic correlation after removing the redshift contribution. The correlation for radio galaxies has a slope and normalization identical to that for Seyfert 1 galaxies, implying similar hard X-ray/infrared emission processes in both. In contrast, Compton-thick (CT) sources show a large deficit in the hard X-ray band, because high gas column densities diminish even their hard X-ray luminosities. We propose two photometric diagnostics for source classification: one is an X-ray luminosity versus infrared color diagram, in which type 1 radio-loud AGNs are well isolated from the others in the sample. The other uses the X-ray versus infrared color as a useful redshift-independent indicator for identifying CT AGNs. Importantly, CT AGNs and starburst galaxies in composite systems can also be differentiated in this plane based upon their hard X-ray fluxes and dust temperatures. This diagram may be useful as a new indicator to classify objects in new and upcoming surveys such as WISE and NuSTAR.
Infrared-faint radio sources (IFRS) form a new class of galaxies characterised by radio flux densities between tenths and tens of mJy and faint or absent infrared counterparts. It has been suggested that these objects are radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at significant redshifts (z>2). Whereas the high redshifts of IFRS have been recently confirmed based on spectroscopic data, the evidence for the presence of AGNs in IFRS is mainly indirect. So far, only two AGNs have been unquestionably confirmed in IFRS based on very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations. In this work, we test the hypothesis that IFRS contain AGNs in a large sample of sources using VLBI. We observed 57 IFRS with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) down to a detection sensitivity in the sub-mJy regime and detected compact cores in 35 sources. Our VLBA detections increase the number of VLBI-detected IFRS from 2 to 37 and provide strong evidence that most - if not all - IFRS contain AGNs. We find that IFRS have a marginally higher VLBI detection fraction than randomly selected sources with mJy flux densities at arcsec-scales. Moreover, our data provide a positive correlation between compactness - defined as the ratio of milliarcsec- to arcsec-scale flux density - and redshift for IFRS, but suggest a decreasing mean compactness with increasing arcsec-scale radio flux density. Based on these findings, we suggest that IFRS tend to contain young AGNs whose jets have not formed yet or have not expanded, equivalent to very compact objects. We found two IFRS that are resolved into two components. The two components are spatially separated by a few hundred milliarcseconds in both cases. They might be components of one AGN, a binary black hole, or the result of gravitational lensing.
Using Spitzer-infrared spectrograph (IRS) spectroscopy, we investigate the ubiquity of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in a complete (~94%), volume-limited sample of the most bolometrically luminous galaxies [L_IR,8-1000um_>=(0.3-20)x10^10^L_{sun}_] to D<15Mpc. Our analyses are based on the detection of the high-excitation emission line [NeV]({lambda}14.32{mu}m) (97.1eV) to unambiguously identify AGN activity. We find that 17 of the 64 infrared (IR) bright galaxies in our sample host AGN activity (~27^+8^_6_%), >=50t of which are not identified as AGN using optical spectroscopy.
We investigated AGN activity in low-mass galaxies, an important regime that can shed light on to black hole (BH) formation and evolution, and their interaction with their host galaxies. We identified 336 AGN candidates from a parent sample of ~48000 nearby low-mass galaxies (M*<=10^9.5^M_{sun}_, z<0.1) in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We selected the AGN using the classical BPT diagram, a similar optical emission line diagnostic based on the HeII {lambda}4686 line, and mid-IR colour cuts. Different criteria select host galaxies with different physical properties such as stellar mass and optical colour and only 3 out of 336 sources fulfil all three criteria. This could be in part due to selection biases. The resulting AGN fraction of ~0.7 percent is at least one order of magnitude below the one estimated for more massive galaxies. At optical wavelengths, the HeII-based AGN selection appears to be more sensitive to AGN hosted in star-forming galaxies than the classical BPT diagram, at least in the low-mass regime. The archival X-ray and radio data available for some of the AGN candidates seem to confirm their AGN nature, but follow-up observations are needed to confirm the AGN nature of the rest of the sample, especially in the case of mid-IR selection. Our sample will be important for future follow-up studies aiming to understand the relation between BHs and host galaxies in the low-mass regime.
We present XMM data for the supercluster A901/2, at z~0.17, which is combined with deep imaging and 17-band photometric redshifts (from the COMBO-17 survey), two degree field (2dF) spectra and Spitzer 24um data, to identify active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the supercluster. The 90ks XMM image contains 139 point sources, of which 11 are identified as supercluster AGN with LX(0.5-7.5keV)>1.7x10^41^erg/cm^2^/s. The host galaxies have M_R_<-20 and only two of eight sources with spectra could have been identified as AGN by the detected optical emission lines. Using a large sample of 795 supercluster galaxies, we define control samples of massive galaxies with no detected AGN. The local environments of the AGN and control samples differ at >~98 per cent significance. The AGN host galaxies lie predominantly in areas of moderate projected galaxy density and with more local blue galaxies than the control sample, with the exception of one very bright type I AGN very near the centre of a cluster. These environments are similar to, but not limited to, cluster outskirts and blue groups. Despite the large number of potential host galaxies, no AGN are found in regions with the highest galaxy density (excluding some cluster cores where emission from the intra-cluster medium obscures moderate luminosity AGN). AGN are also absent from the areas with lowest galaxy density. We conclude that the prevalence of cluster AGN is linked to their environment.
We present a study of the X-ray properties of a volume-limited sample of optically selected emission-line galaxies. The sample is derived from a correlation between the KPNO International Spectroscopic Survey (KISS), an H{alpha}-elected objective-prism survey of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and starbursting galaxies, and the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS). After elimination of all spurious matches, we identify 18 ROSAT-detected X-ray sources within the KISS sample in the 0.1-2.4keV band.