The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2025)
Tripling the Census of Dwarf AGN Candidates Using DESI Early Data
- Ragadeepika Pucha,
- S. Juneau,
- Arjun Dey,
- M. Siudek,
- M. Mezcua,
- J. Moustakas,
- S. BenZvi,
- K. Hainline,
- R. Hviding,
- Yao-Yuan Mao,
- D. M. Alexander,
- R. Alfarsy,
- C. Circosta,
- Wei-Jian Guo,
- V. Manwadkar,
- P. Martini,
- B. A. Weaver,
- J. Aguilar,
- S. Ahlen,
- D. Bianchi,
- D. Brooks,
- R. Canning,
- T. Claybaugh,
- K. Dawson,
- A. de la Macorra,
- Biprateep Dey,
- P. Doel,
- A. Font-Ribera,
- J. E. Forero-Romero,
- E. Gaztañaga,
- S. Gontcho A Gontcho,
- G. Gutierrez,
- K. Honscheid,
- R. Kehoe,
- S. E. Koposov,
- A. Lambert,
- M. Landriau,
- L. Le Guillou,
- A. Meisner,
- R. Miquel,
- F. Prada,
- G. Rossi,
- E. Sanchez,
- D. Schlegel,
- M. Schubnell,
- H. Seo,
- D. Sprayberry,
- G. Tarlé,
- H. Zou
Affiliations
- Ragadeepika Pucha
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah , 115 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA ; [email protected]; Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- S. Juneau
- ORCiD
- NSF NOIRLab , 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- Arjun Dey
- ORCiD
- NSF NOIRLab , 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- M. Siudek
- ORCiD
- Institute of Space Sciences , ICE-CSIC, Campus UAB, Carrer de Can Magrans s/n, 08913 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias , C/ Vía Láctea, s/n, E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
- M. Mezcua
- ORCiD
- Institute of Space Sciences , ICE-CSIC, Campus UAB, Carrer de Can Magrans s/n, 08913 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC) , 08034 Barcelona, Spain
- J. Moustakas
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Siena College , 515 Loudon Road, Loudonville, NY 12211, USA
- S. BenZvi
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Rochester , 206 Bausch and Lomb Hall, Rochester, NY 14627-0171, USA
- K. Hainline
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- R. Hviding
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA; Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
- Yao-Yuan Mao
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah , 115 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA ; [email protected]
- D. M. Alexander
- ORCiD
- Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, Department of Physics, Durham University , South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK; Institute for Computational Cosmology, Department of Physics, Durham University , South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
- R. Alfarsy
- Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth , Dennis Sciama Building, Portsmouth, PO1 3FX, UK
- C. Circosta
- ORCiD
- European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) , Camino bajo del Castillo s/n, Villanueva de la Canada, E28692 Madrid, Spain; Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London , Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Wei-Jian Guo
- ORCiD
- National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences , A20 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100012, People’s Republic of China
- V. Manwadkar
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, Stanford University , 382 Via Pueblo Mall, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology , SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
- P. Martini
- ORCiD
- Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics, The Ohio State University , 191 West Woodruff Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University , 4055 McPherson Laboratory, 140 W 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; The Ohio State University , Columbus, 43210 OH, USA
- B. A. Weaver
- NSF NOIRLab , 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- J. Aguilar
- ORCiD
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- S. Ahlen
- ORCiD
- Physics Dept., Boston University , 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- D. Bianchi
- ORCiD
- Dipartimento di Fisica “Aldo Pontremoli,” Università degli Studi di Milano , Via Celoria 16, I-20133 Milano, Italy
- D. Brooks
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London , Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- R. Canning
- Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth , Dennis Sciama Building, Portsmouth, PO1 3FX, UK
- T. Claybaugh
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- K. Dawson
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah , 115 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA ; [email protected]
- A. de la Macorra
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México , Cd. de México C.P. 04510, Mexico
- Biprateep Dey
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto , Toronto, ON M5S 3H4, Canada; Department of Physics & Astronomy and Pittsburgh Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology Center (PITT PACC), University of Pittsburgh , 3941 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
- P. Doel
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London , Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- A. Font-Ribera
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London , Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK; Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE) , The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra Barcelona, Spain
- J. E. Forero-Romero
- ORCiD
- Departamento de Física, Universidad de los Andes , Cra. 1 No. 18A-10, Edificio Ip, CP 111711, Bogotá, Colombia; Observatorio Astronómico, Universidad de los Andes, Cra .1 No. 18A-10, Edificio H, CP 111711 Bogotá, Colombia
- E. Gaztañaga
- Institute of Space Sciences , ICE-CSIC, Campus UAB, Carrer de Can Magrans s/n, 08913 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC) , 08034 Barcelona, Spain; Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth , Dennis Sciama Building, Portsmouth, PO1 3FX, UK
- S. Gontcho A Gontcho
- ORCiD
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- G. Gutierrez
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory , PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510, USA
- K. Honscheid
- Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics, The Ohio State University , 191 West Woodruff Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; The Ohio State University , Columbus, 43210 OH, USA; Department of Physics, The Ohio State University , 191 West Woodruff Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- R. Kehoe
- Department of Physics, Southern Methodist University , 3215 Daniel Avenue, Dallas, TX 75275, USA
- S. E. Koposov
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK; Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
- A. Lambert
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- M. Landriau
- ORCiD
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- L. Le Guillou
- ORCiD
- Sorbonne Université , CNRS/IN2P3, Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Energies (LPNHE), FR-75005 Paris, France
- A. Meisner
- ORCiD
- NSF NOIRLab , 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- R. Miquel
- Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE) , The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra Barcelona, Spain; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats , Passeig de Lluís Companys, 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
- F. Prada
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC) , Glorieta de la Astronomía, s/n, E-18008 Granada, Spain
- G. Rossi
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Sejong University , Seoul, 143-747, Republic of Korea
- E. Sanchez
- ORCiD
- CIEMAT , Avenida Complutense 40, E-28040 Madrid, Spain
- D. Schlegel
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- M. Schubnell
- Department of Physics, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- H. Seo
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, Ohio University , Athens, OH 45701, USA
- D. Sprayberry
- NSF NOIRLab , 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- G. Tarlé
- ORCiD
- University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- H. Zou
- ORCiD
- National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences , A20 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100012, People’s Republic of China
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb1dd
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 982,
no. 1
p. 10
Abstract
Using early data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey, we search for active galactic nuclei (AGN) signatures in 410,757 line-emitting galaxies. By employing the BPT emission-line ratio diagnostic diagram, we identify AGNs in 75,928/296,261 (≈25.6%) high-mass ( $\mathrm{log}({M}_{\star }/{M}_{\odot })\,\gt $ 9.5) and 2444/114,496 (≈2.1%) dwarf ( $\mathrm{log}({M}_{\star }/{M}_{\odot })\,\leqslant $ 9.5) galaxies. Of these AGN candidates, 4181 sources exhibit a broad H α component, allowing us to estimate their BH masses via virial techniques. This study more than triples the census of dwarf AGNs and doubles the number of intermediate-mass black hole ( M _BH ≤ 10 ^6 M _⊙ ) candidates, spanning a broad discovery space in stellar mass (7 $\lt \mathrm{log}({M}_{\star }/{M}_{\odot })\,\lt $ 12) and redshift (0.001 < z < 0.45). The observed AGN fraction in dwarf galaxies (≈2.1%) is nearly four times higher than prior estimates, primarily due to DESI’s smaller fiber size, which enables the detection of lower-luminosity dwarf AGN candidates. We also extend the M _BH – M _⋆ scaling relation down to ${\rm{log}}({M}_{\star }/{M}_{\odot })\,\approx $ 8.5 and $\mathrm{log}({M}_{\mathrm{BH}}/{M}_{\odot })\,\approx $ 4.4, with our results aligning well with previous low-redshift studies. The large statistical sample of dwarf AGN candidates from current and future DESI releases will be invaluable for enhancing our understanding of galaxy evolution at the low-mass end of the galaxy mass function.
Keywords
