Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 2005
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005aas...20714003c&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society Meeting 207, #140.03; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 37, p.1395
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We investigate the AGN sub-population of a purely 24 micron -selected galaxy sample (S24>200 μ Jy) in the Spitzer First Look Survey. Using deep Keck optical spectroscopy and a series of emission-line diagnostics, we identify AGN-dominated systems over the redshift range 0 < z < 3.5. We find that down to the flux limits of our Spitzer MIPS sample (S24>200μ Jy), ≈15-20% of sources exhibit strong AGN signatures in their optical spectra. This AGN population accounts for as much as ≈25-30% of the integrated 24 micron flux from the population as a whole. Looking at the IRAC colors of our spectroscopically-selected AGN sample, we estimate the completeness and reliability of various MIR AGN selection criteria. This comparison reveals that although there is considerable overlap between the various AGN samples, a significant fraction of genuinely active galaxies are not identifiable based on their IRAC MIR colors alone. Finally, our spectroscopic sample implies a 3× higher AGN surface density than that of recent optical surveys, over comparable optical flux limits. This is suggestive of a large population of heavily obscured, optical/UV reddened AGN.
Choi Philip I.
Helou George
Lacy Mark
Yan Lihong
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