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arXiv 0705.2985astro-ph
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XMM-牛顿明亮偶然巡天中难以捉摸的AGN

Elusive AGN in the XMM-Newton bright serendipitous survey

A. Caccianiga, P. Severgnini, R. Della Ceca, T. Maccacaro, F. J. Carrera, M. J. Page

摘要:

目标:我们在这里调查的性质,所有的来源(共35个)在XBS调查(这是86%的光学识别)显示光谱为主的光从主星系没有证据(或证据很少)的活动星系核的存在。方法:我们使用X射线光谱分析,以评估在这些来源的活动星系核的存在,并描述其属性。结果:我们在35个放射源中的33个中检测到活动星系核活动。剩下的两个源是样本中X射线光度最低的源(L[2- 10 keV]<10^41 erg s^-1),它们的X射线发射可能是在宿主星系中产生的。我们发现,活动星系核的"识别问题“在低光度区非常关键(至少60%的L[2- 10 keV]<10^43 erg s^-1的活动星系核是难以捉摸的),而在高X射线光度区(约1.5%的L[2- 10 keV]>10^44 erg s^-1的难以捉摸的活动星系核)则可以忽略不计。这一问题主要影响吸收活动星系核(约40%的2型活动星系核是难以捉摸的),但也有相当一部分未吸收活动星系核(8%)。结论:我们发现,最简单的解释,为什么这33个(或大多数)活动星系核是难以捉摸的两个:在低X射线亮度下(<10^43 erg s^-1)最重要的原因是活动星系核/星系的对比度本来就很低(光学稀释),而在高亮度(>10^44 erg s^-1)时,这是由于光学吸收(在康普顿薄区,即NH<10^24 cm^-2)。其他假设,如康普顿厚源的存在,BL Lac天体或"非标准“AGN(例如α_OX<1或弱/吸收窄线区)的数据不支持,尽管我们不能排除样本中存在少数这些类型的源。

英文摘要:

AIMS: We investigate here the nature of all the sources (35 in total) in the XBS survey (which is 86% optically identified) showing an optical spectrum dominated by the light from the host galaxy with no evidence (or little evidence) for the presence of an AGN. METHODS: We use the X-ray spectral analysis to assess the presence of an AGN in these sources and to characterize its properties. RESULTS: We detect AGN activity in 33 out of 35 sources. The remaining 2 sources are the ones with the lowest X-ray luminosity in the sample (L[2-10keV]<10^41 erg s^-1) and their X-ray emission could be produced within the host galaxy. We find that the ``recognition problem'' for AGN is very critical in the low-luminosity regime (at least 60% of the AGN with L[2-10keV]<10^43 erg s^-1 are elusive) becoming negligible for high X-ray luminosities (~1.5% of elusive AGN with L[2-10keV]>10^44 erg s^-1). This problem affects mostly absorbed AGN (~40% of type~2 AGN in the survey are elusive) but also a significant fraction of unabsorbed AGN (8%). CONCLUSIONS: We find that the simplest explanations of why these 33 (or most of them) AGNs are elusive are two: at low X-ray luminosities (<10^43 erg s^-1) the most important reason is the intrinsically low AGN/galaxy contrast (optical dilution) while at high luminosities (>10^44 erg s^-1) it is due to the optical absorption (in the Compton-thin regime, i.e. NH<10^24 cm^-2). Alternative hypotheses, like the presence of Compton-thick sources, BL Lac objects or ``non-standard'' AGN (e.g. with alpha_OX<1 or with weak/absorbed Narrow Line Region) are not supported by the data although we cannot exclude the presence in the sample of a few sources of these types.

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