Towards a complete census of luminous Compton-thick Active Galactic Nuclei in the local Universe
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arXiv
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| Autori principali: | , , , , |
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| Natura: | Preprint |
| Pubblicazione: |
2024
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| author | Akylas, A. Georgantopoulos, I. Gandhi, P. Boorman, P. Greenwell, C. L. |
| author_facet | Akylas, A. Georgantopoulos, I. Gandhi, P. Boorman, P. Greenwell, C. L. |
| contents | X-ray surveys provide the most efficient means for the detection of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). However, they face difficulties in detecting the most heavily obscured Compton-thick AGN. The BAT detector on board the Gehrels/Swift mission, operating in the very hard 14-195 keV band, has provided the largest samples of Compton-thick AGN in the local Universe. However, even these flux limited samples can miss the most obscured sources among the Compton-thick AGN population. A robust way to find these local sources is to systematically study volume-limited AGN samples detected in the IR or the optical part of the spectrum. Here, we utilize a local sample (<100 Mpc) of mid-IR selected AGN, unbiased against obscuration, to determine the fraction of Compton-thick sources in the local universe. When available we acquire X-ray spectral information for the sources in our sample from previously published studies. Additionally, to maximize the X-ray spectral information for the sources in our sample, we analyse, for the first time, eleven unexplored XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations, identifying four new Compton-thick sources. Our results reveal an increased fraction of Compton-thick AGN among the sources that have not been detected by BAT of 44 %. Overall we estimate a fraction of Compton thick sources in the local universe of 25-30% among mid-IR selected AGN. We find no evidence for evolution of the AGN Compton-thick fraction with luminosity. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_20015 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Towards a complete census of luminous Compton-thick Active Galactic Nuclei in the local Universe Akylas, A. Georgantopoulos, I. Gandhi, P. Boorman, P. Greenwell, C. L. Astrophysics of Galaxies Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics X-ray surveys provide the most efficient means for the detection of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). However, they face difficulties in detecting the most heavily obscured Compton-thick AGN. The BAT detector on board the Gehrels/Swift mission, operating in the very hard 14-195 keV band, has provided the largest samples of Compton-thick AGN in the local Universe. However, even these flux limited samples can miss the most obscured sources among the Compton-thick AGN population. A robust way to find these local sources is to systematically study volume-limited AGN samples detected in the IR or the optical part of the spectrum. Here, we utilize a local sample (<100 Mpc) of mid-IR selected AGN, unbiased against obscuration, to determine the fraction of Compton-thick sources in the local universe. When available we acquire X-ray spectral information for the sources in our sample from previously published studies. Additionally, to maximize the X-ray spectral information for the sources in our sample, we analyse, for the first time, eleven unexplored XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations, identifying four new Compton-thick sources. Our results reveal an increased fraction of Compton-thick AGN among the sources that have not been detected by BAT of 44 %. Overall we estimate a fraction of Compton thick sources in the local universe of 25-30% among mid-IR selected AGN. We find no evidence for evolution of the AGN Compton-thick fraction with luminosity. |
| title | Towards a complete census of luminous Compton-thick Active Galactic Nuclei in the local Universe |
| topic | Astrophysics of Galaxies Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.20015 |