Establishing the mid-infrared selection of AGN

Details Establishing the mid-infrared selection of AGN Establishing the mid-infrared selection of AGN

Sep 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004sptz.prop.3231h&link_type=abstract

Spitzer Proposal ID #3231

Computer Science

Scientific paper

Since a large fraction of AGN is missed in common UV-excess surveys, and even in radio, near-IR and X-ray surveys, we have searched for AGN via mid-IR emission from their nuclear dust at T>300 K. This is a new AGN selection technique, and one not affected by extinction. Among 3000 high galactic latitude sources randomly detected by ISO at 6.7 microns we have discovered a population of extremly infra-red, mostly unknown objects. This population is not detected on IRAS-ADDSCANs and very few of these sources show up in the NVSS and FIRST radio surveys. Various colour criteria from 2MASS and optical wavebands and the comparison with known object types show that the sources have a higher MIR excess than those seen in the ELAIS survey. Our analysis suggests that we have, in fact, found AGN with a pronounced MIR emission. We estimate that, if this is true, the number counts of AGN will have to be revised dramatically upwards. In order to verify our hypothesis on the AGN nature of the sources, we have selected MIR-excess AGN candidates with unknown classification from our ISO survey. First results from optical spectrocopy show some to be AGN, but also that many of the sources are extremely reddened. Therefore, we here apply for 5-40 micron IRS spectroscopy of 30 of the remaining unidentified sources to establish their nature as AGN, to determine the fraction of type 1 and 2 AGN among this MIR selected sample, and to constrain their additional starburst contribution. While new IR surveys from Spitzer are expected to find more such interesting objects, we have already identified a promising sample. The requested observations will make a significant contribution to the debate on the entire AGN population.

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