The Most Obscured AGNs in the XMM-SERVS Fields

Yan, Wei; Brandt, W. N.; Zou, Fan; Zhu, Shifu; Chen, Chien-Ting J.; Hickox, Ryan C.; Luo, Bin; Ni, Qingling; Alexander, David M.; Bauer, Franz E.; Vignali, Cristian; Vito, Fabio

Abstract

We perform X-ray spectral analyses to derive the characteristics (e.g., column density, X-ray luminosity) of ≈10,200 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in the XMM-Spitzer Extragalactic Representative Volume Survey, which was designed to investigate the growth of supermassive black holes across a wide dynamic range of cosmic environments. Using physical torus models (e.g., Borus02) and a Bayesian approach, we uncover 22 representative Compton-thick (CT; NH > 1.5 × 1024 cm−2) AGN candidates with good signal-to-noise ratios as well as a large sample of 136 heavily obscured AGNs. We also find an increasing CT fraction (fCT) from low (z < 0.75) to high (z > 0.75) redshift. Our CT candidates tend to show hard X-ray spectral shapes and dust extinction in their spectral energy distribution fits, which may shed light on the connection between AGN obscuration and host-galaxy evolution.

Citation

Yan, W., Brandt, W. N., Zou, F., Zhu, S., Chen, C. J., Hickox, R. C., …Vito, F. (2023). The Most Obscured AGNs in the XMM-SERVS Fields. Astrophysical Journal, 951(1), Article 27. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/accea6

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 4, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jun 29, 2023
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2023
• Deposit Date: Oct 31, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 31, 2023
• Journal: The Astrophysical Journal
• Print ISSN: 0004-637X
• Electronic ISSN: 1538-4357
• Publisher: American Astronomical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 951
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 27
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/accea6
• Keywords: Space and Planetary Science; Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1872002