Compton-thick AGNs in the NuSTAR Era Marchesi, S.; Ajello, M.; Marcotulli, L. ...
Astrophysical journal/The Astrophysical journal,
02/2018, Letnik:
854, Številka:
1
Journal Article
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We present the 2-100 keV spectral analysis of 30 candidate Compton-thick-(CT-)active galactic nuclei (AGNs) selected in the Swift-Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) 100 month survey. The average redshift of ...these objects is , and they all lie within ∼500 Mpc. We used the MyTorus model to perform X-ray spectral fittings both without and with the contribution of the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) data in the 3-50 keV energy range. When the NuSTAR data are added to the fit, 13 out of 30 of these objects (43% of the whole sample) have intrinsic absorption NH < 1024 cm−2 at the >3 confidence level, i.e., they are reclassified from Compton thick to Compton thin. Consequently, we infer an overall observed fraction of the CT-AGN, with respect to the whole AGN population, lower than the one reported in previous works, as low as ∼4%. We find evidence that this overestimation of NH is likely due to the low quality of a subsample of spectra, either in the 2-10 keV band or in the Swift-BAT one.
Context.
The AGN bolometric correction is a key element for understanding black hole (BH) demographics and computing accurate BH accretion histories from AGN luminosities. However, current estimates ...still differ from each other by up to a factor of two to three, and rely on extrapolations at the lowest and highest luminosities.
Aims.
Here we revisit this fundamental question by presenting general hard X-ray (
K
X
) and optical (
K
O
) bolometric corrections, computed by combining several AGN samples spanning the widest (about 7 dex) luminosity range ever used for this type of studies.
Methods.
We analysed a total of ∼1000 type 1 and type 2 AGN for which we performed a dedicated SED-fitting.
Results.
We provide a bolometric correction separately for type 1 and type 2 AGN; the two bolometric corrections agree in the overlapping luminosity range. Based on this we computed for the first time a universal bolometric correction for the whole AGN sample (both type 1 and type 2). We found that
K
X
is fairly constant at log(
L
BOL
/
L
⊙
) < 11, while it increases up to about one order of magnitude at log(
L
BOL
/
L
⊙
) ∼ 14.5. A similar increasing trend has been observed when its dependence on either the Eddington ratio or the BH mass is considered, while no dependence on redshift up to
z
∼ 3.5 has been found. In contrast, the optical bolometric correction appears to be fairly constant (i.e.
K
O
∼ 5) regardless of the independent variable. We also verified that our bolometric corrections correctly predict the AGN bolometric luminosity functions. According to this analysis, our bolometric corrections can be applied to the whole AGN population in a wide range of luminosity and redshift.
The ionizing continuum from active galactic nuclei is fundamental for interpreting their broad emission lines and understanding their impact on the surrounding gas. Furthermore, it provides hints on ...how matter accretes on to supermassive black holes. Using Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3, we have constructed the first stacked ultraviolet (rest-frame wavelengths 600–2500 Å) spectrum of 53 luminous quasars at z ≃ 2.4, with a state-of-the-art correction for the intervening Lyman forest and Lyman continuum absorption. The continuum slope (
$f_\nu \propto \nu ^{\alpha _\nu }$
) of the full sample shows a break at ∼912 Å with spectral index αν = −0.61 ± 0.01 at λ > 912 Å and a softening at shorter wavelengths (αν = −1.70 ± 0.61 at λ ≤ 912 Å). Our analysis proves that a proper intergalactic medium absorption correction is required to establish the intrinsic continuum emission of quasars. We interpret our average ultraviolet spectrum in the context of photoionization, accretion disc models, and quasar contribution to the ultraviolet background. We find that observed broad line ratios are consistent with those predicted assuming an ionizing slope of αion = −2.0, similar to the observed ionizing spectrum in the same wavelength range. The continuum break and softening are consistent with accretion disc plus X-ray corona models when black hole spin is taken into account. Our spectral energy distribution yields a 30 per cent increase to previous estimates of the specific quasar emissivity, such that quasars may contribute significantly to the total specific Lyman limit emissivity estimated from the Lyα forest at z < 3.2.
ABSTRACT We present the X-ray spectral analysis of the 1855 extragalactic sources in the Chandra COSMOS-Legacy survey catalog having more than 30 net counts in the 0.5-7 keV band. A total of 38% of ...the sources are optically classified type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs), 60% are type 2 AGNs, and 2% are passive, low-redshift galaxies. We study the distribution of AGN photon index Γ and of the intrinsic absorption based on the sources' optical classification: type 1 AGNs have a slightly steeper mean photon index Γ than type 2 AGNs, which, on the other hand, have average times higher than type 1 AGNs. We find that ∼15% of type 1 AGNs have cm−2, i.e., are obscured according to the X-ray spectral fitting; the vast majority of these sources have 1044 erg s−1. The existence of these objects suggests that optical and X-ray obscuration can be caused by different phenomena, the X-ray obscuration being, for example, caused by dust-free material surrounding the inner part of the nuclei. Approximately 18% of type 2 AGNs have cm−2, and most of these sources have low X-ray luminosities (L 1043 erg s−1). We expect a part of these sources to be low-accretion, unobscured AGNs lacking broad emission lines. Finally, we also find a direct proportional trend between and host-galaxy mass and star formation rate, although part of this trend is due to a redshift selection effect.
We present a systematic analysis of X-ray archival data of all the 29 quasars (QSOs) at z> 5.5 observed so far with Chandra, XMM-Newton and Swift-XRT, including the most-distant quasar ever ...discovered, ULAS J1120+0641 (z = 7.08). This study allows us to place constraints on the mean spectral properties of the primordial population of luminous Type 1 (unobscured) quasars. Eighteen quasars are detected in the X-ray band, and we provide spectral-fitting results for their X-ray properties, while for the others we provide upper limits to their soft (0.5–2.0 keV) X-ray flux. We measured the power-law photon index and derived an upper limit to the column density for the five quasars (J1306+0356, J0100+2802, J1030+0524, J1148+5251, J1120+0641) with the best spectra (>30 net counts in the 0.5–7.0 keV energy range) and find that they are consistent with values from the literature and lower-redshift quasars. By stacking the spectra of ten quasars detected by Chandra in the redshift range 5.7 ≤ z ≤ 6.1 we find a mean X-ray power-law photon index of Γ = 1.92-0.27+0.28 and a neutral intrinsic absorption column density of NH ≤ 1023 cm-2. These results suggest that the X-ray spectral properties of luminous quasars have not evolved up to z ≈ 6. We also derived the optical-X-ray spectral slopes (αox) of our sample and combined them with those of previous works, confirming that αox strongly correlates with UV monochromatic luminosity at 2500 Å. These results strengthen the non-evolutionary scenario for the spectral properties of luminous active galactic nuclei (AGN).
ABSTRACT
Fanaroff–Riley type II (FR II) low-excitation radio galaxies (LERGs) are characterized by weak nuclear excitation on parsec-scales and properties typical of powerful FR IIs (defined as ...high-excitation radio galaxies, hereafter HERGs/BLRGs) on kiloparsec-scales. Since a link between the accretion properties and the power of the produced jets is expected both from theory and observations, their nature is still debated. In this work, we investigate the X-ray properties of a complete sample of 19 FR II-LERGs belonging to the 3CR catalogue, exploiting Chandra and XMM–Newton archival data. We also analyse 32 FR II-HERGs/BLRGs with Chandra data as a control sample. We compared FR II-LERG and FR II-HERG/BLRG X-ray properties and optical data available in literature to obtain a wide outlook of their behaviour. The low accretion rate estimates for FR II-LERGs, from both X-ray and optical bands, allow us to firmly reject the hypothesis as they are the highly obscured counterpart of powerful FR II-HERGs/BLRGs. Therefore, at least two hypothesis can be invoked to explain the FR II-LERG nature: (i) they are evolving from classical FR IIs because of the depletion of accreting cold gas in the nuclear region, while the extended radio emission is the heritage of a past efficiently accreting activity; and (ii) they are an intrinsically distinct class of objects with respect to classical FR Is/FR IIs. Surprisingly, in this direction, a correlation between accretion rates and environmental richness is found in our sample. The richer the environment is, the more inefficient is the accretion. In this framework, the FR II-LERGs are intermediate between FR Is and FR II-HERGs/BLRGs both in terms of accretion rate and environment.
We investigate the dependence of black hole accretion rate (BHAR) on host-galaxy star formation rate (SFR) and stellar mass (M*) in the CANDELS/GOODS-South field in the redshift range of . Our sample ...consists of galaxies, allowing us to probe galaxies with and/or . We use sample-mean BHAR to approximate long-term average BHAR. Our sample-mean BHARs are derived from the Chandra Deep Field-South 7 Ms observations, while the SFRs and M* have been estimated by the CANDELS team through spectral energy distribution fitting. The average BHAR is correlated positively with both SFR and M*, and the BHAR-SFR and BHAR-M* relations can both be described acceptably by linear models with a slope of unity. However, BHAR appears to be correlated more strongly with M* than SFR. This result indicates that M* is the primary host-galaxy property related to supermassive black hole (SMBH) growth, and the apparent BHAR-SFR relation is largely a secondary effect due to the star-forming main sequence. Among our sources, massive galaxies ( ) have significantly higher BHAR/SFR ratios than less massive galaxies, indicating that the former have higher SMBH fueling efficiency and/or higher SMBH occupation fraction than the latter. Our results can naturally explain the observed proportionality between and M* for local giant ellipticals and suggest that their is higher than that of local star-forming galaxies. Among local star-forming galaxies, massive systems might have higher compared to dwarfs.
Abstract
We present ALMA observations at 107.291 GHz (band 3) and 214.532 GHz (band 6) of GMASS 0953, a star-forming galaxy at z = 2.226 hosting an obscured active galactic nucleus (AGN) that has ...been proposed as a progenitor of compact quiescent galaxies (QGs). We measure for the first time the size of the dust and molecular gas emission of GMASS 0953 that we find to be extremely compact (∼1 kpc). This result, coupled with a very high interstellar medium (ISM) density (n ∼ 105.5 cm−3), a low gas mass fraction (∼0.2), and a short gas depletion time-scale (∼150 Myr), implies that GMASS 0953 is experiencing an episode of intense star formation in its central region that will rapidly exhaust its gas reservoirs, likely aided by AGN-induced feedback, confirming its fate as a compact QG. Kinematic analysis of the CO(6–5) line shows evidence of rapidly rotating gas (Vrot = 320$^{+92}_{-53}$ km s−1), as observed also in a handful of similar sources at the same redshift. On-going quenching mechanisms could either destroy the rotation or leave it intact leading the galaxy to evolve into a rotating QG.
We study the incidence of nuclear obscuration on a complete sample of 1310 active galactic nuclei (AGN) selected on the basis of their rest-frame 2-10 keV X-ray flux from the XMM-COSMOS survey, in ...the redshift range 0.3 < z < 3.5. We classify the AGN as obscured or unobscured on the basis of either the optical spectral properties and the overall SED or the shape of the X-ray spectrum. The two classifications agree in about 70 per cent of the objects, and the remaining 30 per cent can be further subdivided into two distinct classes: at low luminosities X-ray unobscured AGN do not always show signs of broad lines or blue/UV continuum emission in their optical spectra, most likely due to galaxy dilution effects; at high-luminosities broad-line AGN may have absorbed X-ray spectra, which hints at an increased incidence of small-scale (sub-parsec) dust-free obscuration. We confirm that the fraction of obscured AGN is a decreasing function of the intrinsic X-ray luminosity, while the incidence of absorption shows significant evolution only for the most luminous AGN, which appear to be more commonly obscured at higher redshift. We find no significant difference between the mean stellar masses and star formation rates of obscured and unobscured AGN hosts. We conclude that the physical state of the medium responsible for obscuration in AGN is complex and mainly determined by the radiation environment (nuclear luminosity) in a small region enclosed within the gravitational sphere of influence of the central black hole, but is largely insensitive to the wider scale galactic conditions.
Context.
Obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN) represent a significant fraction of the entire AGN population, especially at high redshift (∼70% at
z
= 3 − 5). They are often characterized by the ...presence of large gas and dust reservoirs that are thought to sustain and possibly obscure vigorous star formation processes that make these objects shine at FIR and submillimeter wavelengths. Studying the physical properties of obscured AGN and their host galaxies is crucial to shedding light on the early stages of a massive system lifetime.
Aims.
We aim to investigate the contribution of the interstellar medium (ISM) to the obscuration of quasars in a sample of distant highly star forming galaxies and to unveil their morphological and kinematics properties.
Methods.
We exploit Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Cycle 4 observations of the continuum (∼2.1 mm) and high-
J
CO emission of a sample of six X-ray selected, FIR detected galaxies hosting an obscured AGN at
z
spec
> 2.5 in the 7 Ms
Chandra
Deep Field-South. We measured the masses and sizes of the dust and molecular gas by fitting the images, visibilities, and spectra, and we derived the gas density and column density on the basis of a uniform sphere geometry. Finally, we compared the measured column densities with those derived from the
Chandra
X-ray spectra.
Results.
We detected both the continuum and line emission for three sources for which we measured both the flux density and size. For the undetected sources, we derived an upper limit on the flux density from the root mean square of the images. We found that the detected galaxies are rich in gas and dust (molecular gas mass in the range < 0.5–2.7 × 10
10
M
⊙
for
α
CO
= 0.8 and up to ∼2 × 10
11
M
⊙
for
α
CO
= 6.5, and dust mass < 0.9–4.9 × 10
8
M
⊙
) and generally compact (gas major axis 2.1–3.0 kpc, dust major axis 1.4–2.7 kpc). The column densities associated with the ISM are on the order of 10
23 − 24
cm
−2
, which is comparable with those derived from the X-ray spectra. For the detected sources we also derived dynamical masses in the range 0.8–3.7 × 10
10
M
⊙
.
Conclusions.
We conclude that the ISM of high redshift galaxies can substantially contribute to nuclear obscuration up to the Compton-thick (> 10
24
cm
−2
) regime. In addition, we found that all the detected sources show a velocity gradient reminding one rotating system, even though two of them show peculiar features in their morphology that can be associated with a chaotic, possibly merging, structure.
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