- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/817/119
- Title:
- Spitzer/IRAC variability survey of Bootes field
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/817/119
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The Decadal IRAC Bootes Survey is a mid-IR variability survey of the ~9deg^2^ of the NDWFS Bootes Field and extends the time baseline of its predecessor, the Spitzer Deep, Wide-Field Survey (SDWFS), from 4 to 10 years. The Spitzer Space Telescope visited the field five times between 2004 and 2014 at 3.6 and 4.5{mu}m. We provide the difference image analysis photometry for a half a million mostly extragalactic sources. In mid-IR color-color plane, sources with quasar colors constitute the largest variability class (75%), 16% of the variable objects have stellar colors and the remaining 9% have the colors of galaxies. Adding the fifth epoch doubles the number of variable active galactic nuclei (AGNs) for the same false positive rates as in SDWFS, or increases the number of sources by 20% while decreasing the false positive rates by factors of 2-3 for the same variability amplitude. We quantify the ensemble mid-IR variability of ~1500 spectroscopically confirmed AGNs using single power-law structure functions (SFs), which we find to be steeper (index {gamma}~0.45) than in the optical ({gamma}~0.3), leading to much lower amplitudes at short time-lags. This provides evidence for large emission regions, smoothing out any fast UV/optical variations, as the origin of infrared quasar variability. The mid-IR AGN SF slope {gamma} seems to be uncorrelated with both the luminosity and rest-frame wavelength, while the amplitude shows an anti-correlation with the luminosity and a correlation with the rest-frame wavelength.
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- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/414/500
- Title:
- Spitzer/IRS ATLAS project source
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/414/500
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a panoramic atlas of Spitzer/Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) spectra of extragalactic sources collected from the recent literature, with value-added measurements of their spectral features obtained in a homogeneous and concise manner. The atlas covers the full spectrum of the extragalactic Universe and includes star-forming galaxies, obscured and unobscured active galaxies, luminous and ultra-luminous infrared galaxies, and hybrid objects. Measured features such as the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the strength of the silicates in emission or absorption around 9.7um, rest-frame monochromatic luminosities or colours, combined with measurements derived from spectral decomposition are used to establish diagnostics that allow for classification of sources, based on their infrared properties alone. Average templates of the various classes are also derived. The full atlas with the value-added measurements and ancillary archival data are publicly available at http://www.denebola.org/atlas, with full references to the original data.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/803/109
- Title:
- Spitzer/IRS spectral decompositon of AGN
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/803/109
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present results on the spectral decomposition of 118 Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) spectra from local active galactic nuclei (AGNs) using a large set of Spitzer/IRS spectra as templates. The templates are themselves IRS spectra from extreme cases where a single physical component (stellar, interstellar, or AGN) completely dominates the integrated mid-infrared emission. We show that a linear combination of one template for each physical component reproduces the observed IRS spectra of AGN hosts with unprecedented fidelity for a template fitting method with no need to model extinction separately. We use full probability distribution functions to estimate expectation values and uncertainties for observables, and find that the decomposition results are robust against degeneracies. Furthermore, we compare the AGN spectra derived from the spectral decomposition with sub-arcsecond resolution nuclear photometry and spectroscopy from ground-based observations. We find that the AGN component derived from the decomposition closely matches the nuclear spectrum with a 1{sigma} dispersion of 0.12dex in luminosity and typical uncertainties of ~0.19 in the spectral index and ~0.1 in the silicate strength. We conclude that the emission from the host galaxy can be reliably removed from the IRS spectra of AGNs. This allows for unbiased studies of the AGN emission in intermediate- and high-redshift galaxies--currently inaccesible to ground-based observations--with archival Spitzer/IRS data and in the future with the Mid-InfraRed Instrument of the James Webb Space Telescope.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/709/1257
- Title:
- Spitzer-IRS spectra of Seyfert galaxies. II.
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/709/1257
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present our Spitzer-Infrared Spectrometer (IRS) spectroscopic survey from 10um to 37um of the Seyfert galaxies of the 12um Galaxy Sample (12MSG), collected in a high-resolution mode (R~600). The new spectra of 61 galaxies, together with the data we already published, give us a total of 91 12um Seyfert galaxies observed, out of 112. We discuss the mid-IR emission lines and features of the Seyfert galaxies, using an improved active galactic nucleus (AGN) classification scheme: instead of adopting the usual classes of Seyfert 1's and Seyfert 2's, we use the spectropolarimetric data from the literature to divide the objects into categories "AGN 1" and "AGN 2," where AGN 1's include all broad-line objects, including the Seyfert 2's showing hidden broad lines in polarized light. The remaining category, AGN 2's, contains only Seyferts with no detectable broad lines in either direct or polarized spectroscopy. We present various mid-IR observables, such as ionization-sensitive and density-sensitive line ratios, the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) 11.25um feature and the H_2_S(1) rotational line equivalent widths (EWs), the (60-25um) spectral index, and the source extendedness at 19um, to characterize similarities and differences in the AGN populations, in terms of AGN dominance versus star formation dominance.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/395/1695
- Title:
- Spitzer mid-IR spectroscopy of LIRGs
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/395/1695
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present results on low-resolution mid-infrared (MIR) spectra of 70 IR-luminous galaxies obtained with the infrared spectrograph (IRS) onboard Spitzer. We selected sources from the European Large Area Infrared Survey with S_15_>0.8mJy and photometric or spectroscopic z>1. About half of the samples are quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) in the optical, while the remaining sources are galaxies, comprising both obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN) and starbursts. Redshifts were obtained from optical spectroscopy, photometric redshifts and the IRS spectra. The later turn out to be reliable for obscured and/or star-forming sources, thus becoming an ideal complement to optical spectroscopy for redshift estimation.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/658/778
- Title:
- Spitzer mid-IR spectroscopy of z~2 ULIRGs
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/658/778
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present the mid-infrared spectra obtained with the Spitzer IRS for 52 sources, selected as infrared luminous, z>~1 candidates in the Extragalactic First Look Survey (XFLS). The sample selection criteria are F24um>~0.9mJy, vFv(24um)/vFv(8um)>~3.16, and vFv(24um)/vFv(0.7um)>~10. Of the 52 spectra, 47 (90%) produced measurable redshifts based solely on the mid-IR spectral features, with 35/47 (74%) at 1.5<~z<~3.2. Keck spectroscopy of a subsample (17/47) agrees with the mid-IR redshift measurements. The observed spectra fall into three categories: (1) 33% (17/52) have strong PAH emission and are probably powered by star formation with total IR luminosity roughly a factor of 5 higher than the local starburst ULIRGs; (2) 33% (17/52) have only deep silicate absorption at 9.8um, indicating deeply embedded dusty systems -these data alone cannot determine the energetic nature of the heating sources in these systems; and (3) the remaining 34% are mid-IR continuum-dominated systems with weak PAH emission and/or silicate absorption. This subsample is probably AGNs.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/208/24
- Title:
- Spitzer MIR AGN survey. I.
- Short Name:
- J/ApJS/208/24
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present the results of a program of optical and near-infrared spectroscopic follow-up of candidate active galactic nuclei (AGNs) selected in the mid-infrared. This survey selects both normal and obscured AGNs closely matched in luminosity across a wide range, from Seyfert galaxies with bolometric luminosities L _bol_~10^10^L_{sun}_ to highly luminous quasars (L_bol_~10^14^L_{sun}_), all with redshifts ranging from 0 to 4.3. Samples of candidate AGNs were selected with mid-infrared color cuts at several different 24{mu}m flux density limits to ensure a range of luminosities at a given redshift. The survey consists of 786 candidate AGNs and quasars, of which 672 have spectroscopic redshifts and classifications. Of these, 137 (20%) are type 1 AGNs with blue continua, 294 (44%) are type 2 objects with extinctions A_V_>~5 toward their AGNs, 96 (14%) are AGNs with lower extinctions (A_V_~1), and 145 (22%) have redshifts, but no clear signs of AGN activity in their spectra. Of the survey objects 50% have L_bol_>10^12^L_{sun}_, in the quasar regime. We present composite spectra for type 2 quasars and objects with no signs of AGN activity in their spectra. We also discuss the mid-infrared - emission-line luminosity correlation and present the results of cross correlations with serendipitous X-ray and radio sources.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/713/330
- Title:
- Spitzer observations of major-merger galaxies
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/713/330
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present Spitzer observations for a sample of close major-merger galaxy pairs (KPAIR sample) selected from cross-matches between the 2MASS Extended Source Catalog and Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 3. The goals are to study the star formation activity in these galaxies and to set a local bench mark for the cosmic evolution of close major mergers. The Spitzer KPAIR sample (27 pairs, 54 galaxies) includes all spectroscopically confirmed spiral-spiral (S+S) and spiral-elliptical (S+E) pairs in a parent sample that is complete for primaries brighter than K=12.5 mag, projected separations of 5h^-1^kpc<=s<=20h^-1^kpc, and mass ratios <=2.5. The Spitzer data, consisting of images in seven bands (3.6, 4.5, 5.8, 8, 24, 70, 160um), show very diversified IR emission properties.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/769/79
- Title:
- Spitzer observations of radio-loud AGNs (CARLA)
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/769/79
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We report the first results from the Clusters Around Radio-Loud AGN program, a Cycle 7 and 8 Spitzer Space Telescope snapshot program to investigate the environments of a large sample of obscured and unobscured luminous radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at 1.2<z<3.2. These data, obtained for 387 fields, reach 3.6 and 4.5{mu}m depths of [3.6]_AB_=22.6 and [4.5]_AB_=22.9 at the 95% completeness level, which is two to three times fainter than L* in this redshift range. By using the color cut [3.6]-[4.5]>-0.1 (AB), which efficiently selects high-redshift (z>1.3) galaxies of all types, we identify galaxy cluster member candidates in the fields of the radio-loud AGN. The local density of these Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)-selected sources is compared to the density of similarly selected sources in blank fields. We find that 92% of the radio-loud AGN reside in environments richer than average. The majority (55%) of the radio-loud AGN fields are found to be overdense at a>=2{sigma} level; 10% are overdense at a>=5{sigma} level. A clear rise in surface density of IRAC-selected sources toward the position of the radio-loud AGN strongly supports an association of the majority of the IRAC-selected sources with the radio-loud AGN. Our results provide solid statistical evidence that radio-loud AGN are likely beacons for finding high-redshift galaxy (proto-)clusters. We investigate how environment depends on AGN type (unobscured radio-loud quasars versus obscured radio galaxies), radio luminosity and redshift, finding no correlation with either AGN type or radio luminosity. We find a decrease in density with redshift, consistent with galaxy evolution for this uniform, flux-limited survey. These results are consistent with expectations from the orientation-driven AGN unification model, at least for the high radio luminosity regimes considered in this sample.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/717/1181
- Title:
- Spitzer power-law galaxies in EGS
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/717/1181
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- This paper analyzes a sample of 489 Spitzer/Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) sources in the Extended Groth Strip (EGS), whose spectral energy distributions fit a red power law (PL) from 3.6 to 8.0um. The median redshift for sources with known redshifts is <z>=1.6. Though all or nearly all of the sample galaxies are likely to be active galactic nuclei (AGNs), only 33% were detected in the EGS X-ray survey (AEGIS-X) using 200ks Chandra observations. The detected sources are X-ray luminous with L_X_>10^43^erg/s and moderately to heavily obscured with N_H_>10^22^cm^-2^. Stacking the X-ray-undetected sample members yields a statistically significant X-ray signal, suggesting that they are on average more distant or more obscured than sources with X-ray detections. The ratio of X-ray to mid-infrared fluxes suggests that a substantial fraction of the sources undetected in X-rays are obscured at the Compton-thick level, in contrast to the X-ray-detected sources, all of which appear to be Compton thin.
