ABSTRACT The COSMOS-Legacy survey is a 4.6 Ms Chandra program that has imaged 2.2 deg2 of the COSMOS field with an effective exposure of ks over the central 1.5 deg2 and of ks in the remaining area. ...The survey is the combination of 56 new observations obtained as an X-ray Visionary Project with the previous C-COSMOS survey. We describe the reduction and analysis of the new observations and the properties of 2273 point sources detected above a spurious probability of 2 × 10−5. We also present the updated properties of the C-COSMOS sources detected in the new data. The whole survey includes 4016 point sources (3814, 2920 and 2440 in the full, soft, and hard band). The limiting depths are 2.2 × 10−16, 1.5 × 10−15, and 8.9 × 10−16 in the 0.5-2, 2-10, and 0.5-10 keV bands, respectively. The observed fraction of obscured active galactic nuclei with a column density >1022 cm−2 from the hardness ratio (HR) is ∼50 %. Given the large sample we compute source number counts in the hard and soft bands, significantly reducing the uncertainties of 5%-10%. For the first time we compute number counts for obscured (HR > −0.2) and unobscured (HR < −0.2) sources and find significant differences between the two populations in the soft band. Due to the unprecedent large exposure, COSMOS-Legacy area is three times larger than surveys at similar depths and its depth is three times fainter than surveys covering similar areas. The area-flux region occupied by COSMOS-Legacy is likely to remain unsurpassed for years to come.
We present the X-ray spectral analysis of the 390 brightest extragalactic sources in the Chandra-Cosmic Evolution Survey catalogue, showing at least 70 net counts in the 0.5-7 keV band. This sample ...has a 100 per cent completeness in optical-infrared identification, with ∼75 per cent of the sample having a spectroscopic redshift and ∼25 per cent a photometric redshift. Our analysis allows us to accurately determine the intrinsic absorption, the broad-band continuum shape (Γ) and intrinsic L
2-10 distributions, with an accuracy better than 30 per cent on the spectral parameters for 95 per cent of the sample. The sample is equally divided in type 1 (49.7 per cent) and type 2 active galactic nuclei (48.7 per cent) plus few passive galaxies at low z. We found a significant difference in the distribution of Γ of type 1 and type 2, with small intrinsic dispersion, a weak correlation of Γ with L
2−10 and a large population (15 per cent of the sample) of high luminosity, highly obscured (QSO2) sources. The distribution of the X-ray/Optical flux ratio (Log(F
X
/F
i
)) for type 1 is narrow (0 < X/O < 1), while type 2 are spread up to X/O = 2. The X/O correlates well with the amount of X-ray obscuration. Finally, a small sample of Compton-thick candidates and peculiar sources is presented. In the appendix, we discuss the comparison between Chandra and XMM-Newton spectra for 280 sources in common. We found a small systematic difference, with XMM-Newton spectra that tend to have softer power laws and lower obscuration.
In this paper, we release accurate photometric redshifts for 1692 counterparts to Chandra sources in the central square degree of the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field. The availability of a ...large training set of spectroscopic redshifts that extends to faint magnitudes enabled photometric redshifts comparable to the highest quality results presently available for normal galaxies. We demonstrate that morphologically extended, faint X-ray sources without optical variability are more accurately described by a library of normal galaxies (corrected for emission lines) than by active galactic nucleus (AGN) dominated templates, even if these sources have AGN-like X-ray luminosities. Preselecting the library on the bases of the source properties allowed us to reach an accuracy with a fraction of outliers of 5.8% for the entire Chandra-COSMOS sample. In addition, we release revised photometric redshifts for the 1735 optical counterparts of the XMM-detected sources over the entire 2 deg2 of COSMOS. For 248 sources, our updated photometric redshift differs from the previous release by Delta *Dz > 0.2. These changes are predominantly due to the inclusion of newly available deep H-band photometry (H AB = 24 mag). We illustrate once again the importance of a spectroscopic training sample and how an assumption about the nature of a source together, with the number and the depth of the available bands, influences the accuracy of the photometric redshifts determined for AGN. These considerations should be kept in mind when defining the observational strategies of upcoming large surveys targeting AGNs, such as eROSITA at X-ray energies and the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder Evolutionary Map of the Universe in the radio band.
Context. The COSMOS survey is a multiwavelength survey aimed to study the evolution of galaxies, AGN and large scale structures. Within this survey XMM-COSMOS a powerful tool to detect AGN and galaxy ...clusters. The XMM-COSMOS is a deep X-ray survey over the full 2 deg2 of the COSMOS area. It consists of 55 XMM-Newton pointings for a total exposure of ~1.5 Ms with an average vignetting-corrected depth of 40 ks across the field of view and a sky coverage of 2.13 deg2. Aims. We present the catalogue of point-like X-ray sources detected with the EPIC CCD cameras, the $\log N - \log S$ relations and the X-ray colour–colour diagrams. Methods. The analysis was performed using the XMM-SAS data analysis package in the 0.5–2 keV, 2–10 keV and 5–10 keV energy bands. Source detection has been performed using a maximum likelihood technique especially designed for raster scan surveys. The completeness of the catalogue as well as $\log N -\log S$ and source density maps have been calibrated using Monte Carlo simulations. Results. The catalogs contains a total of 1887 unique sources detected in at least one band with likelihood parameter det_ml $>10$. The survey, which shows unprecedented homogeneity, has a flux limit of ~$1.7\times 10 ^{-15}$ erg cm-2 s-1, ~$9.3 \times 10 ^{-15}$ erg cm-2 s-1 and ~$1.3 \times 10^{-14}$ erg cm-2 s-1 over 90% of the area (1.92 deg2) in the 0.5–2 keV, 2–10 keV and 5–10 keV energy band, respectively. Thanks to the rather homogeneous exposure over a large area, the derived $\log N - \log S$ relations are very well determined over the flux range sampled by XMM-COSMOS. These relations have been compared with XRB synthesis models, which reproduce the observations with an agreement of ~10% in the 5–10 keV and 2–10 keV band, while in the 0.5–2 keV band the agreement is of the order of ~20%. The hard X-ray colors confirmed that the majority of the extragalactic sources in a bright subsample are actually type I or type II AGN. About 20% of the sources have a X-ray luminosity typical of AGN ($L_{\rm X}> 10^{42}$ erg/s) although they do not show any clear signature of nuclear activity in the optical spectrum.
We report the final optical identifications of the medium-depth ({approx}60 ks), contiguous (2 deg{sup 2}) XMM-Newton survey of the COSMOS field. XMM-Newton has detected {approx}1800 X-ray sources ...down to limiting fluxes of {approx}5 x 10{sup -16}, {approx}3 x 10{sup -15}, and {approx}7 x 10{sup -15} erg cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} in the 0.5-2 keV, 2-10 keV, and 5-10 keV bands, respectively ({approx}1 x 10{sup -15}, {approx}6 x 10{sup -15}, and {approx}1 x 10{sup -14} erg cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}, in the three bands, respectively, over 50% of the area). The work is complemented by an extensive collection of multiwavelength data from 24 {mu}m to UV, available from the COSMOS survey, for each of the X-ray sources, including spectroscopic redshifts for {approx}>50% of the sample, and high-quality photometric redshifts for the rest. The XMM and multiwavelength flux limits are well matched: 1760 (98%) of the X-ray sources have optical counterparts, 1711 ({approx}95%) have IRAC counterparts, and 1394 ({approx}78%) have MIPS 24 {mu}m detections. Thanks to the redshift completeness (almost 100%) we were able to constrain the high-luminosity tail of the X-ray luminosity function confirming that the peak of the number density of log L{sub X} > 44.5 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is at z {approx} 2. Spectroscopically identified obscured and unobscured AGNs, as well as normal and star-forming galaxies, present well-defined optical and infrared properties. We devised a robust method to identify a sample of {approx}150 high-redshift (z > 1), obscured AGN candidates for which optical spectroscopy is not available. We were able to determine that the fraction of the obscured AGN population at the highest (L{sub X} > 10{sup 44} erg s{sup -1}) X-ray luminosity is {approx}15%-30% when selection effects are taken into account, providing an important observational constraint for X-ray background synthesis. We studied in detail the optical spectrum and the overall spectral energy distribution of a prototypical Type 2 QSO, caught in a stage transitioning from being starburst dominated to AGN dominated, which was possible to isolate only thanks to the combination of X-ray and infrared observations.
A large population of heavily obscured, Compton-thick active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is predicted by AGN synthesis models for the cosmic X-ray background and by the 'relic' supermassive black hole ...mass function measured from local bulges. However, even the deepest X-ray surveys are inefficient to search for these elusive AGNs. Alternative selection criteria, combining mid-infrared with near-infrared, and optical photometry, have instead been successful in pinpointing a large population of Compton-thick AGNs. We take advantage of the deep Chandra and Spitzer coverage of a large area (more than 10 times the area covered by the Chandra deep fields, CDFs) in the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field to extend the search of highly obscured, Compton-thick active nuclei to higher luminosity. These sources have low surface density, and therefore large samples can be provided only through large area surveys, like the COSMOS survey. We analyze the X-ray properties of COSMOS MIPS sources with 24 mm fluxes higher than 550 mJy. For the MIPS sources not directly detected in the Chandra images, we produce stacked images in soft and hard X-rays bands. To estimate the fraction of Compton-thick AGN in the MIPS source population, we compare the observed stacked count rates and hardness ratios to those predicted by detailed Monte Carlo simulations, including both obscured AGN and star-forming galaxies. The volume density of Compton-thick QSOs (log L(2-10 keV) = 44-45 erg s-1, or loglL l(5.8 mm) = 44.79-46.18 erg s-1 for a typical infrared to X-ray luminosity ratio) evaluated in this way is (4.8 ± 1.1) X 10-6 Mpc-3 in the redshift bin 1.2-2.2. This density is ~44% of all X-ray-selected QSOs in the same redshift and luminosity bin, and it is consistent with the expectation of the most up-to-date AGN synthesis models for the cosmic X-ray background (Gilli et al. 2007). The density of lower luminosity Compton-thick AGNs (log L(2-10 keV) = 43.5-44) at z = 0.7-1.2 is (3.7 ± 1.1) X 10-5 Mpc-3, corresponding to ~67% of X-ray-selected AGNs. The comparison between the fraction of infrared-selected, Compton-thick AGNs to the X-ray selected, unobscured, and moderately obscured AGNs at high and low luminosity suggests that Compton-thick AGNs follow a luminosity dependence similar to that discovered for Compton-thin AGNs, becoming relatively rarer at high luminosities. We estimate that the fraction of AGNs (unobscured, moderately obscured, and Compton thick) to the total MIPS source population is 49 ± 10%, a value significantly higher than that previously estimated at similar 24 mm fluxes. We discuss how our findings can constrain AGN feedback models.
We present Chandra High Resolution Camera observations of CID-42, a candidate recoiling supermassive black hole (SMBH) at z = 0.359 in the COSMOS survey. CID-42 shows two optical compact sources ...resolved in the HST/ACS image embedded in the same galaxy structure and a velocity offset of ~1300 km s super(-1) between the H beta broad and narrow emission line, as presented by Civano et al. Two scenarios have been proposed to explain the properties of CID-42: a gravitational wave (GW) recoiling SMBH and a double Type 1/Type 2 active galactic nucleus (AGN) system, where one of the two is recoiling because of slingshot effect. In both scenarios, one of the optical nuclei hosts an unobscured AGN, while the other one, either an obscured AGN or a star-forming compact region. The X-ray Chandra data allow us to unambiguously resolve the X-ray emission and unveil the nature of the two optical sources in CID-42. We find that only one of the optical nuclei is responsible for the whole X-ray unobscured emission observed and a 3sigma upper limit on the flux of the second optical nucleus is measured. The upper limit on the X-ray luminosity plus the analysis of the multiwavelength spectral energy distribution indicate the presence of a star-forming region in the second source rather than an obscured SMBH, thus favoring the GW recoil scenario. However, the presence of a very obscured SMBH cannot be fully ruled out. A new X-ray feature, in a SW direction with respect to the main source, is discovered and discussed.
We present a detailed study of a peculiar source detected in the COSMOS survey at z = 0.359. Source CXOC J100043.1+020637, also known as CID-42, has two compact optical sources embedded in the same ...galaxy. The distance between the two, measured in the HST/ACS image, is 0.495" ± 0.005" that, at the redshift of the source, corresponds to a projected separation of 2.46 ± 0.02 kpc. A large (~1200 km s-1) velocity offset between the narrow and broad components of Hβ has been measured in three different optical spectra from the VLT/VIMOS and Magellan/IMACS instruments. CID-42 is also the only X-ray source in COSMOS, having in its X-ray spectra a strong redshifted broad absorption iron line and an iron emission line, drawing an inverted P-Cygni profile. The Chandra and XMM-Newton data show that the absorption line is variable in energy by ΔE = 500 eV over four years and that the absorber has to be highly ionized in order not to leave a signature in the soft X-ray spectrum. That these features—the morphology, the velocity offset, and the inverted P-Cygni profile—occur in the same source is unlikely to be a coincidence. We envisage two possible explanations, both exceptional, for this system: (1) a gravitational wave (GW) recoiling black hole (BH), caught 1-10 Myr after merging; or (2) a Type 1/Type 2 system in the same galaxy where the Type 1 is recoiling due to the slingshot effect produced by a triple BH system. The first possibility gives us a candidate GW recoiling BH with both spectroscopic and imaging signatures. In the second case, the X-ray absorption line can be explained as a BAL-like outflow from the foreground nucleus (a Type 2 AGN) at the rearer one (a Type 1 AGN), which illuminates the otherwise undetectable wind, giving us the first opportunity to show that fast winds are present in obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and possibly universal in AGNs.
The formation of stars in massive clusters is one of the main modes of the star formation process. However, the study of massive star-forming regions is hampered by their typically large distances to ...the Sun. One exception to this is the massive star-forming region Cygnus OB2 in the Cygnus X region, at the distance of ~1400 pc. Cygnus OB2 hosts very rich populations of massive and low-mass stars, being the best target in our Galaxy to study the formation of stars, circumstellar disks, and planets in the presence of massive stars. In this paper, we combine a wide and deep set of photometric data, from the r band to 24 mu m, in order to select the disk-bearing population of stars in Cygnus OB2 and identify the class I, class II, and stars with transition and pre-transition disks. We selected 1843 sources with infrared excesses in an area of 1degrees x 1degrees centered on Cyg OB2 in several evolutionary stages: 8.4% class I, 13.1% flat-spectrum sources, 72.9% class II, 2.3% pre-transition disks, and 3.3% transition disks. The spatial distribution of these sources shows a central cluster surrounded by an annular overdensity and some clumps of recent star formation in the outer region. Several candidate subclusters are identified, both along the overdensity and in the rest of the association.
•Color-Color-Intensity diagrams are used for classifying X-ray binaries.•Different X-ray colors are tested for CCI diagrams of separate classes of XRBs.•X-ray binaries with black holes are separated ...from neutron stars in all X-ray colors.•Soft BH XRBs spectral states are separated in X-ray colors with lowest energyband.
X-ray binaries exhibit a wide range of properties but there are few accepted methods to determine the nature of the compact object. Color-Color-Intensity diagrams have been suggested as a means of distinguishing between systems containing black holes from those containing neutron stars. However, this technique has been verified with data from only one instrument (RXTE/ASM) with a single set of X-ray colors defined using data available only in pre-determined energy bands. We test a selection of X-ray colors with a more sensitive instrument to determine the reliability of this method. We use data from the MAXI/Gas Slit Camera, which allows users to specify energy-bands. We test X-ray colors that have been previously defined in the literature as well as ones that we define specifically in this paper. A representative set of systems are used to construct Color-Color-Intensity diagrams in each set of colors to determine which are best for separating different classes. For studying individual sources certain bands are more effective than others. For a specified energy range, the separation of soft states in black hole binaries was possible only where both soft and hard colors included information from the lowest energy band. We confirm that Color-Color-Intensity diagrams can distinguish between systems containing black holes or neutron stars in all X-ray colors tested; this suggests an universality in the accretion processes governing these different classes. We suggest possible physical processes driving different classes of X-ray binaries to different locations in Color-Color-Intensity diagrams.
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