The infrared to X-ray correlation spectra of unobscured type 1 active galactic nuclei

García-Bernete, I.; Ramos Almeida, C.; Landt, H.; Ward, M .J.; Baloković, M.; Acosta-Pulido, J. A.

Abstract

We use new X-ray data obtained with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), near-infrared (NIR) fluxes and mid-infrared (MIR) spectra of a sample of 24 unobscured type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGN) to study the correlation between various hard X-ray bands between 3 and 80 keV and the infrared (IR) emission. The IR to X-ray correlation spectrum (IRXCS) shows a maximum at ∼15–20 μm, coincident with the peak of the AGN contribution to the MIR spectra of the majority of the sample. There is also an NIR correlation peak at ∼2 μm, which we associate with the NIR bump observed in some type 1 AGN at ∼1–5 μm and is likely produced by nuclear hot dust emission. The IRXCS shows practically the same behaviour in all the X-ray bands considered, indicating a common origin for all of them. We finally evaluated correlations between the X-ray luminosities and various MIR emission lines. All the lines show a good correlation with the hard X-rays (ρ ≥ 0.7), but we do not find the expected correlation between their ionization potentials and the strength of the IRXCS.

Citation

García-Bernete, I., Ramos Almeida, C., Landt, H., Ward, M. .., Baloković, M., & Acosta-Pulido, J. A. (2017). The infrared to X-ray correlation spectra of unobscured type 1 active galactic nuclei. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 469(1), 110-126. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx795

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 28, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Apr 1, 2017
• Publication Date: Jul 21, 2017
• Deposit Date: Aug 25, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 25, 2017
• Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• Print ISSN: 0035-8711
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-2966
• Publisher: Royal Astronomical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 469
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 110-126
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx795
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1350866