Active galactic nuclei as seen by the Spitzer Space Telescope

Lacy, Mark; Sajina, Anna

doi:10.1038/s41550-020-1071-x

Cited by 22 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 156 publications

(221 reference statements)

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“…Based on its capability, we consider the case of the band 3.6 µm (the closest to the IRT-THESEUS band of observation), with apparent magnitude 18 [26] and calculate the number given by equation ( 9) to be tested. For this magnitude, we find the minimum luminosity to be, L min = L 10 and Sajina [17] that over 20, 000 AGN candidates exist in the Spitzer archive, which is close to the theoretical value found above.…”

Section: A Test On Spitzer Space Telescopesupporting

confidence: 87%

Exploiting the IRT-THESEUS capability to observe lensed Quasars

Hamolli¹,

Hafizi²,

Paolis³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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THESEUS is an ESA space based project, aiming to explore the early universe by unveiling a complete census of Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) population in the first billion years. This goal is expected to be achieved by combined observations of its three instruments: the Soft X-ray Imager (SXI), the X and Gamma Imaging Spectrometer (XGIS) and the InfraRed Telescope (IRT). In particular, the IRT instrument will help to identify, localise and study the afterglow of the GRBs detected by SXI and XGIS, and about 40% of its time will be devoted to an all-sky photometric survey, which will certainly detect a relevant number of extragalactic sources, including Quasars.In this paper, we focus on the capability of IRT-THESEUS Telescope to observe Quasars and, in particular, those objects lensed by foreground galaxies. In our analysis, we consider the Quasar Luminosity Function (QLF) in the infrared band based obtained by the Spitzer Space Telescope imaging survey. Furthermore, by using the mass-luminosity distribution function of galaxies and the galaxy/Quasar redshift distributions, we preformed Monte Carlo simulations to estimate the number of lensed Quasars. We predict that up to 2.14 × 10 5 Quasars can be observed during IRT-Theseus sky survey, and about 140 of them could be lensed by foreground galaxies. Detailed studies of these events would provide a powerful probe of the physical properties of Quasars and the mass distribution models of the galaxies.

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Section: A Test On Spitzer Space Telescopesupporting

confidence: 87%

Exploiting the IRT-THESEUS capability to observe lensed Quasars

Hamolli¹,

Hafizi²,

Paolis³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…At the same time, Equation ( 9) limits Spitzer observation of Quasars up to z = 2.58. In order to check the number N 2.55 × 10 4 , we find, in Lacy and Sajina [17], that over 20,000 AGN candidates exist in the Spitzer archive, which is close to the theoretical value found above.…”

Section: A Test On Spitzer Space Telescopesupporting

confidence: 84%

“…Our calculation is based on the Quasar luminosity function (QLF) that was obtained by Lacy et al [15] from the Spitzer Space Telescope imaging survey. A parallel calculation for Spitzer gives a lower number, 2.55 × 10 4 , which is, in fact, close to the number 20,000 of AGN candidates existing in the Spitzer archive [17].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Exploiting the IRT-THESEUS Capability to Observe Lensed Quasars

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

THESEUS is an ESA space based project, which aims to explore the early universe by unveiling a complete census of Gamma-ray Burst (GRB) population in the first billion years. This goal is expected to be realized by the combined observations of its three instruments on board: the Soft X-ray Imager (SXI), the X and Gamma Imaging Spectrometer (XGIS), and the InfraRed Telescope (IRT). This last one will identify, localise, and study the afterglow of the GRBs detected by SXI and XGIS, and about 40% of its time will be devoted to an all-sky photometric survey, which will certainly detect a relevant number of extragalactic sources, including Quasars. In this paper, we focus on the capability of IRT-THESEUS Telescope to observe Quasars and, in particular, Quasars lensed by foreground galaxies. In our analysis we consider the recent results for the Quasar Luminosity Function (QLF) in the infrared band based on the Spitzer Space Telescope imaging survey. In order to estimate the number of lensed Quasars, we develop Monte Carlo simulations using the mass-luminosity distribution function of galaxies and the galaxy and Quasar redshift distributions. We predict about 2.14 × 105 Quasars to be observed during IRT-Theseus sky survey, and approximately 140 of them lensed by foreground galaxies. Detailed studies of these events would provide a powerful probe of the physical properties of Quasars and the mass distribution models of the galaxies.

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“…Other astrophysical sources (e.g. star forming galaxies) can have similar or larger emission in the IR, resulting in trade-offs in reliability and completeness in AGN selection techniques (e.g., Messias et al 2014;Lacy & Sajina 2020;Hatziminaoglou et al 2005) Thus, any IR-selected AGN sample is likely to be either incomplete or contaminated by non-AGN objects to some degree. Multiband observations in the same survey area can be used to better select AGN and provide better estimates for photometric redshifts (Laigle et al 2016;Duncan et al 2018b,a;Salvato et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consistent analysis of the AGN LF in X-ray and MIR in the XMM-LSS field

Runburg,

Farrah,

Sajina

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The luminosity function (LF) of active galactic nuclei (AGN) probes the history of supermassive black hole assembly and growth across cosmic time. To mitigate selection biases, we present a consistent analysis of the AGN LFs derived for both X-ray and mid-infrared (MIR) selected AGN in the XMM-Large Scale Structure (XMM-LSS) field. There are 4268 AGN used to construct the MIR luminosity function (IRLF) and 3427 AGN used to construct the X-ray luminosity function (XLF), providing the largest census of the AGN population out to z = 4 in both bands with significant reduction in uncertainties. We are able for the first time to see the knee of the IRLF at z > 2 and observe a flattening of the faint-end slope as redshift increases. The bolometric luminosity density, a proxy for the cosmic black hole accretion history, computed from our LFs shows a peak at z ≈ 2.25 consistent with recent estimates of the peak in the star formation rate density (SFRD). However, at earlier epochs, the AGN luminosity density is flatter than the SFRD. If confirmed, this result suggests that the build up of black hole mass outpaces the growth of stellar mass in high mass systems at z 2.5. This is consistent with observations of redshift z ∼ 6 quasars which lie above the local M − σ relationship. The luminosity density derived from the IRLF is higher than that from the XLF at all redshifts. This is consistent with the dominant role of obscured AGN activity in the cosmic growth of supermassive black holes.

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Active galactic nuclei as seen by the Spitzer Space Telescope

Cited by 22 publications

References 156 publications

Exploiting the IRT-THESEUS capability to observe lensed Quasars

Exploiting the IRT-THESEUS capability to observe lensed Quasars

Exploiting the IRT-THESEUS Capability to Observe Lensed Quasars

Consistent analysis of the AGN LF in X-ray and MIR in the XMM-LSS field

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