The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2023)
The Accretion History of AGN: The Spectral Energy Distributions of X-Ray-luminous Active Galactic Nuclei
- Connor Auge,
- David Sanders,
- Ezequiel Treister,
- C. Megan Urry,
- Allison Kirkpatrick,
- Nico Cappelluti,
- Tonima Tasnim Ananna,
- Médéric Boquien,
- Mislav Baloković,
- Francesca Civano,
- Brandon Coleman,
- Aritra Ghosh,
- Jeyhan Kartaltepe,
- Michael Koss,
- Stephanie LaMassa,
- Stefano Marchesi,
- Alessandro, Peca,
- Meredith Powell,
- Benny Trakhtenbrot,
- Tracey Jane Turner
Affiliations
- Connor Auge
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai`i , 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA ; [email protected]
- David Sanders
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai`i , 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA ; [email protected]
- Ezequiel Treister
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Astrofísica, Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile , Casilla 306, Santiago 22, Chile
- C. Megan Urry
- ORCiD
- Physics Department and Yale Center for Astronomy & Astrophysics , PO Box 208120, New Haven, CT 06520-8120, USA
- Allison Kirkpatrick
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Kansas , Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
- Nico Cappelluti
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Miami , Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA
- Tonima Tasnim Ananna
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College , 6127 Wilder Laboratory, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
- Médéric Boquien
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá , Casilla 7D, Arica, Chile
- Mislav Baloković
- ORCiD
- Physics Department and Yale Center for Astronomy & Astrophysics , PO Box 208120, New Haven, CT 06520-8120, USA
- Francesca Civano
- ORCiD
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Brandon Coleman
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Kansas , Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
- Aritra Ghosh
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, Yale University , New Haven, CT, USA; Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics , New Haven, CT, USA
- Jeyhan Kartaltepe
- ORCiD
- Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology , 84 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623, USA
- Michael Koss
- ORCiD
- Eureka Scientific , 2452 Delmer Street, Suite 100, Oakland, CA 94602-3017, USA; Space Science Institute , 4750 Walnut Street, Suite 205, Boulder, CO 80301, USA
- Stephanie LaMassa
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA
- Stefano Marchesi
- ORCiD
- Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia (DIFA), Università di Bologna , via Gobetti 93/2, I-40129 Bologna, Italy; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University , Kinard Lab of Physics, Clemson, SC 29634, USA; INAF—Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna , Via Piero Gobetti, 93/3, I-40129 Bologna, Italy
- Alessandro, Peca
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Miami , Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA
- Meredith Powell
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University , 452 Lomita Mall, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Benny Trakhtenbrot
- ORCiD
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
- Tracey Jane Turner
- ORCiD
- Eureka Scientific , 2452 Delmer Street, Suite 100, Oakland, CA 94602-3017, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acf21a
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 957,
no. 1
p. 19
Abstract
Spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from X-ray to far-infrared (FIR) wavelengths are presented for a sample of 1246 X-ray-luminous active galactic nuclei (AGNs; L _0.5–10 keV > 10 ^43 erg s ^−1 ), with z _spec 10 ^44 erg s ^−1 . The ratio between the “galaxy-subtracted” bolometric luminosity and the intrinsic L _X increases from a factor of ∼10 to 70 from log L _bol /(erg s ^−1 ) = 44.5 to 46.5. Characteristic SED shapes have been determined by grouping AGNs based on relative strengths of the UV and MIR emission. The average L _1 _μ _m is constant for the majority of these SED shapes, while AGNs with the strongest UV and MIR emission have elevated L _1 _μ _m , consistent with the AGN emission dominating their SEDs at optical and near-infrared wavelengths. A strong correlation is found between the SED shape and both the L _X and L _bol , such that L _bol / L _X = 20.4 ± 1.8, independent of the SED shape. This is consistent with an evolutionary scenario of increasing L _bol with decreasing obscuration as the AGN blows away circumnuclear gas.
Keywords
- Active galactic nuclei
- AGN host galaxies
- X-ray active galactic nuclei
- Spectral energy distribution
- Surveys
