Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2000
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2000aas...196.5014s&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, 196th AAS Meeting, #50.14; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 32, p.753
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
1
Scientific paper
Observations of some of the most luminous examples of IR-selected (i.e., IRAS) AGN indicate that the optical radiation is not emitted isotropically, and that these objects would be indistinguishable from UV/optically-selected QSOs if their nuclei were viewed from a different vantange point. In addition, the Two-Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) is uncovering a large population of previously unidentified radio-quiet AGN. The large IR-to-optical flux ratios of these objects also suggest that their optical emission is largely obscured from our view. The existence of a population of obscured active nuclei may increase the space density of AGN by a factor of two or more, and this has major implications for theories of the origin and evolution of these accretion-powered objects. We present the results of a broad-band optical polarization survey of AGN discovered by 2MASS. The object sample has near-IR luminosities similar to Palomar-Green (PG) QSOs, and is more highly polarized than optically selected samples such as the PG and broad absorption-line QSOs. High polarization (P > 3%) is restricted to objects with large near-IR-to-optical flux ratios (B-K > 5). Spectropolarimetry of some of the QSOs indicates that scattering of nuclear radiation by material near or within the narrow emission-line region is the dominant polarizing mechanism. These results are consistent with the optical emission of 2MASS AGN being hidden from our direct view by dust; leading to higher polarizations than observed for unobscured, optically selected QSOs because the scattered nuclear light is not swamped by the emission seen directly.
Cutri Roc M.
Hines Dean Carter
Nelson Brant O.
Schmidt Gary D.
Smith Paul S.
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