arXiv subjects

K. Nandra

Publications and source records attributed to K. Nandra.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

arXiv2006

An XMM-Newton survey of broad iron lines in AGN

We report on the iron K-alpha line properties of a sample of Seyfert galaxies observed with the XMM-Newton EPIC pn instrument. Using a systematic and uniform analysis, we find that complexity at iron-K is extremely common in the XMM spectra. Once appropriate soft X-ray absorption, narrow 6.4 keV emission and associated Compton reflection are accounted for, ~75 of the sample show an improvement when a further Gaussian component is introduced. The typical properties of the broad emission are both qualitatively and quantitatively consistent with previous results from ASCA. The complexity is in general very well described by relativistic accretion disk models. In most cases the characteristic emission radius is constrained to be within ~50 R_g, where strong gravitational effects become important. We find in about 1/3 of the sample the accretion disk interpretation is strongly favoured over competing models. In a few objects no broad line is apparent. We find evidence for emission within 6 R_g in only two cases, both of which exhibit highly complex absorption. Evidence for black hole spin based on the X-ray spectra therefore remains tentative.

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arXiv2006

Far-infrared characterization of an ultra-luminous starburst associated with a massively-accreting black hole at z=1.15

As part of the "All Wavelength Extended Groth Strip International Survey" (AEGIS), we describe the panchromatic characterization of an X-ray luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN) in a merging galaxy at z=1.15. This object is detected at infrared (8mic, 24mic, 70mic, 160mic), submillimeter (850mic) and radio wavelengths, from which we derive a bolometric luminosity L_bol ~ 9x10^12 Lsol. We find that the AGN clearly dominates the hot dust emission below 40mic but its total energetic power inferred from the hard X-rays is substantially less than the bolometric output of the system. About 50% of the infrared luminosity is indeed produced by a cold dust component that probably originates from enshrouded star formation in the host galaxy. In the context of a coeval growth of stellar bulges and massive black holes, this source might represent a ``transition'' object sharing properties with both quasars and luminous starbursts. Study of such composite galaxies will help address how the star formation and disk-accretion phenomena may have regulated each other at high redshift and how this coordination may have participated to the build-up of the relationship observed locally between the masses of black holes and stellar spheroids.

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arXiv2006

The X-ray emission of Lyman break galaxies

We present an analysis of the X-ray emission of a large sample of z~3 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs), based on Chandra/ACIS observations of several LBG survey fields. 24 LBGs are directly detected in the X-ray. 13 of the LBGs have optical spectroscopic signatures of AGN activity, but almost all the other X-ray detections are also likely to host an accreting black hole based on their X-ray properties. The AGN exhibit a wide range in X-ray luminosity, from weak Seyferts to bright QSOs. Optical spectroscopy identified approximately 1/3 of the X-ray detected sources as broad line QSOs, 1/3 as narrow line AGN and 1/3 as normal star forming LBGs. The fraction of X-ray detected LBGs is 3%, much lower than has been found for submm selected galaxies. 2 galaxies have X-ray luminosities, spectra and f_x/f_opt values that are consistent with emission from star formation processes and are candidate X-ray bright, pure starburst galaxies at z~3. X-ray spectral analysis of the LBGs shows a mean photon index 1.96, similar to local AGN. There is evidence for absorption in at least 40% of the objects. Significantly more absorption is evident in the narrow line AGN, consistent with AGN unification schemes. After correction for absorption the narrow and broad line objects show the same average luminosity. LBGs spectroscopically classified as normal galaxies are less luminous in X-ray indicating that the host galaxy is outshining any optical AGN signature. For the LBGs without direct detections, stacking the X-ray flux in the 2 deepest fields under consideration (the HDF-N and GWS) produced significant detections in each. The detection in the HDF-N gives an X-ray derived SFR of 42.4+/-7.8 Msolar/yr per LBG and, by comparing with the UV SFR, the implied UV extinction correction is 4.1+/-0.8. (abridged)

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arXiv2006

AEGIS: Host Galaxy Morphologies of X-ray and Infrared-selected AGN at 0.2 < z < 1.2

We visually and quantitatively determine the host galaxy morphologies of 94 intermediate redshift (0.2 < z < 1.2) active galactic nuclei (AGN), selected using Chandra X-ray and Spitzer mid-infrared data in the Extended Groth Strip. Using recently developed morphology measures, the second-order moment of the brightest 20% of a galaxy's flux (M_{20}) and the Gini coefficient, we find that X-ray-selected AGN mostly reside in E/S0/Sa galaxies (53^{+11}_{-10}%), while IR-selected AGN show no clear preference for host morphology. X-ray-selected AGN hosts are members of close pairs more often than the field population by a factor of 3.3+/-1.4, but most of these pair members appear to be undisturbed early-type galaxies and do not tend to show direct evidence of gravitational perturbations or interactions. Thus, the activation mechanism for AGN activity remains unknown, even for pair members.

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arXiv2006

AEGIS: Chandra Observation of DEEP2 Galaxy Groups and Clusters

We present a 200 ksec Chandra observation of seven spectroscopically selected, high redshift (0.75 < z < 1.03) galaxy groups and clusters discovered by the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey in the Extended Groth Strip (EGS). X-ray emission at the locations of these systems is consistent with background. The 3-sigma upper limits on the bolometric X-ray luminosities (L_X) of these systems put a strong constraint on the relation between L_X and the velocity dispersion of member galaxies sigma_gal at z~1; the DEEP2 systems have lower luminosity than would be predicted by the local relation. Our result is consistent with recent findings that at high redshift, optically selected clusters tend to be X-ray underluminous. A comparison with mock catalogs indicates that it is unlikely that this effect is entirely caused by a measurement bias between sigma_gal and the dark matter velocity dispersion. Physically, the DEEP2 systems may still be in the process of forming and hence not fully virialized, or they may be deficient in hot gas compared to local systems. We find only one possibly extended source in this Chandra field, which happens to lie outside the DEEP2 coverage.

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arXiv2006

The All-wavelength Extended Groth Strip International Survey (AEGIS) Data Sets

In this the first of a series of Letters, we present a description of the panchromatic data sets that have been acquired in the Extended Groth Strip region of the sky. Our survey, the All-wavelength Extended Groth strip International Survey (AEGIS), is intended to study the physical properties and evolutionary processes of galaxies at z ~ 1. It includes the following deep, wide-field imaging data sets: Chandra/ACIS X-ray (0.5 - 10 keV), GALEX ultraviolet (1200 - 2500 Angstrom), CFHT/MegaCam Legacy Survey optical (3600 - 9000 Angstroms), CFHT/CFH12K optical (4500 - 9000 Angstroms), Hubble Space Telescope/ACS optical (4400 - 8500 Angstroms), Palomar/WIRC near-infrared (1.2 - 2.2 microns), Spitzer/IRAC mid-infrared (3.6 - 8.0 microns), Spitzer/MIPS far-infrared (24 - 70 microns), and VLA radio continuum (6 - 20 cm). In addition, this region of the sky has been targeted for extensive spectroscopy using the DEIMOS spectrograph on the Keck II 10 m telescope. Our survey is compared to other large multiwavelength surveys in terms of depth and sky coverage.

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arXiv2006

All-wavelength Extended Groth strip International Survey: the environment of X-ray sources at z~1

We explore the environment of z~1 AGN using a sample of 53 spectroscopically identified X-ray sources in the All-wavelength Extended Groth strip International Survey. We quantify the local density in the vicinity of an X-ray source by measuring the projected surface density of spectroscopically identified optical galaxies within a radius defined by the 3rd nearest neighbour. Our main result is that X-ray selected AGN at z~1 avoid underdense regions at the 99.89% confidence level. Moreover, although we find that the overall population shares the same (rich) environment with optical galaxies of similar U-B and M_B, there is also tentative evidence (96%) that AGN with blue colors (U-B<1) reside in denser environments compared to optical galaxies. We argue that the results above are a consequence of the whereabouts of massive galaxies, capable of hosting supermassive black holes at their centers, with available cold gas reservoirs, the fuel for AGN activity. At z~1 an increasing fraction of such systems are found in dense regions.

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arXiv2006

AEGIS: The color-magnitude relation for X-ray selected AGN

We discuss the relationship between rest-frame color and optical luminosity for X-ray sources in the range 0.6<z<1.4 selected from the Chandra survey of the Extended Groth Strip (EGS). These objects are almost exclusively active galactic nuclei (AGN). While there are a few luminous QSOs, most are relatively weak or obscured AGN whose optical colors should be dominated by host galaxy light. The vast majority of AGN hosts at z~1 are luminous and red, with very few objects fainter than M_{B}=-20.5 or bluer than U-B=0.6. This places the AGN in a distinct region of color-magnitude space, on the ``red sequence'' or at the top of the ``blue cloud'', with many in between these two modes in galaxy color. A key stage in the evolution of massive galaxies is when star formation is quenched, resulting in a migration from the blue cloud to the red sequence. Our results are consistent with scenarios in which AGN either cause or maintain this quenching. The large numbers of red sequence AGN imply that strong, ongoing star formation is not a necessary ingredient for AGN activity, as black hole accretion appears often to persist after star formation has been terminated.

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arXiv2006

Variable iron-line emission near the black hole of Markarian 766

We investigate the link between ionised Fe X-ray line emission and continuum emission in the bright nearby AGN, Mrk 766. A new long (433 ks) XMM-Newton observation is analysed, together with archival data from 2000 and 2001. The contribution from ionised line emission is measured and its time variations on short (5-20 ks) timescales are correlated with the continuum emission. The ionised line flux is found to be highly variable and to be strongly correlated with the continuum flux, demonstrating an origin for the ionised line emission that is co-located with the continuum emission. Most likely the emission is ionised reflection from the accretion disc within a few A.U. of the central black hole, and its detection marks the first time that such an origin has been identified other than by fitting to spectral line profiles. Future observations may be able to measure a time lag and hence achieve reverberation mapping of AGN at X-ray energies.

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arXiv2006

On the origin of the Fe K-alpha line cores in Active Galactic Nuclei

X-ray observations with Chandra and XMM-Newton have shown that there are relatively narrow cores to the iron K-alpha emission lines in active galactic nuclei (AGN). Plausible origins for this core emission include the outer regions of an accretion disk, a pc-scale molecular torus, and the optical broad-line region (BLR). Using data from the literature it is shown that no correlation exists between the Fe K-alpha core width and the BLR (specifically H-beta) line width. This shows that in general the iron K-alpha core emission does not arise from the BLR. There is a similar lack of correlation between the width of the Fe K-alpha core and black hole mass. The average K-alpha width is about a factor of two lower than the H-beta width. It therefore seems likely that in many cases the narrow core arises in the torus. There is a very wide range of observed Fe K-alpha core widths, however, and this argues for multiple origins. The simplest explanation for the observed line profiles in AGN is that they are due to a mixing of very narrow emission from the inner edge of the torus, and broadened emission from the accretion disk, in varying proportions from object-to-object.

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arXiv2006

XMM-Newton and Chandra observations of SHEEP sources

We present Chandra and XMM observations of 12 bright (f(2-10 keV) > 10^-13 cgs) sources from the ASCA SHEEP (Search for the High Energy Extragalactic Population) survey. Most of these have been either not observed or not detected previously with the ROSAT mission and therefore they constitute a sample biased towards hard sources. The Chandra observations are important in locating with accuracy the optical counterpart of the X-ray sources. Optical spectroscopic observations show that our sample is associated with both narrow-line (NL) (six objects), and Broad-Line (BL) AGN (five objects) with one source remaining unidentified. Our sources cover the redshift range 0.04 to 1.29 spanning luminosities from 10^42 to 10^45 cgs (2-10 keV). The NL sources have preferentially lower redshift (and luminosity) compared with the BL ones. This can be most easily explained in a model where the NL AGN are intrinsically less luminous than the BL ones in line with the results of Steffen et al. The X-ray spectral fittings show a roughly equal number of obscured (N_H>10^22 cgs) and unobscured (N_H<10^22 cgs) sources. There is a clear tendency for obscured sources to be associated with NL AGN and unobscured sources with BL ones. However, there is a marked exception with the highest obscuring column observed at a BL AGN at a redshift of z=0.5.

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arXiv2006

Mid-infrared properties of X-ray sources in the Extended Groth Strip

Mid-infrared observations of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are important for understanding of the physical conditions around the central accretion engines. Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray observations of a 300 arcmin^2 region in the Extended Groth Strip are used to select a sample of~150 AGN. The Spitzer instruments IRAC and MIPS detect 68-80% of these sources, which show a wide range of mid-infrared properties. About 40% of the sources have red power-law spectral energy distributions (f_nu ~ nu^alpha, alpha<0) in the 3.6-8 um IRAC bands. In these sources the central engine dominates the emission at both X-ray and IR wavelengths. Another 40% of the sources have blue mid-IR spectral energy distributions (alpha>0) with their infrared emission dominated by the host galaxy; the remaining 20% are not well-fit by a power law. Published IRAC color criteria for AGN select most of the red sources, but only some of the blue sources. As with all other known methods, selecting AGN with mid-IR colors will not produce a sample that is simultaneously complete and reliable. The IRAC SED type does not directly correspond to X-ray spectral type (hard/soft). The mid-IR properties of X-ray-detected Lyman-break, radio, submillimeter, and optically-faint sources vary widely and, for the most part, are not distinct from those of the general X-ray/infrared source population. X-ray sources emit 6-11% of the integrated mid--IR light, making them significant contributors to the cosmic infrared background.

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arXiv2005

Energy-shifted lines in XMM-Newton spectra of Seyfert Galaxies

In the recent literature on AGNs it has been often reported that spectra of Seyfert 1 Galaxies show resonant absorption lines of Fe K which are redshifted from the rest frame position. Such lines are often found with marginal significance but, if real, could potentially open up new avenues to study the circumnuclear gas in the black hole environment. It is also extremely important to take them into account in X-ray spectral analysis because of the influence they have in the correct estimation of spectral parameters, Fe K alpha line in primis. An XMM-Newton observation of Mrk 335 is reported here as a case study: a narrow feature has been detected at 5.9 keV, i.e. with a redshift corresponding to a velocity of v ~ 0.15c. Preliminary results on the statistical significance of narrow absorption and emission lines in a sample of PG QSOs observed by XMM-Newton are also included.

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arXiv2005

The Ionized Gas and Nuclear Environment in NGC 3783 V. Variability and Modeling of the Intrinsic Ultraviolet Absorption

We present results on the location, physical conditions, and geometry of the outflow in the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 3783 from a study of the variable intrinsic UV absorption. Based on 18 observations with HST/STIS and 6 observations with FUSE, we find: 1) The absorption from the lowest-ionization species in each of the three strong kinematic components varied inversely with the continuum flux, indicating the ionization structure responded to changes in the photoionizing flux over the weekly timescales sampled by our observations. 2) A multi- component model with an unocculted NLR and separate BLR and continuum line-of-sight covering factors predicts saturation in several lines, consistent with the lack of observed variability. 3) Column densities for the individual metastable levels are measured from the resolved C III *1175 absorption complex observed in one component. Based on our computed metastable level populations, the electron density of this absorber is ~3x10^4 cm^-3. Photoionization modeling results place it at ~25 pc from the central source. 4) Using time-dependent calculations, we are able to reproduce the detailed variability observed in this absorber, and derive upper limits on the distances for the other components of 25-50 pc. 5) The ionization parameters derived for the higher ionization UV absorbers are consistent with the modeling results for the lowest-ionization X-ray component, but with smaller total column density. They have similar pressures as the three X-ray ionization components. These results are consistent with an inhomogeneous wind model for the outflow in NGC 3783. 6) Based on the predicted emission-line luminosities, global covering factor constraints, and distances derived for the UV absorbers, they may be identified with emission- line gas observed in the inner NLR of AGNs. (abridged)

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arXiv2005

The Space Density of Moderate Luminosity Active Galaxies at z=3

We present an estimate of the space density of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) at z=3. Combining deep X-ray data with Lyman Break Galaxy (LBG) colour-selection in the rest-frame UV makes for highly efficient identification of AGN in a narrow redshift range (z~2.5-3.5). Using Chandra data from the Groth-Westphal Strip and the Hubble Deep Field North, we find a total of 15 X-ray detected LBGs at z~3, the majority of which are unlikely to have been identified in blanket followup surveys of X-ray detected objects. We find the comoving space density of moderate luminosity AGN at z=3 to be a factor ~10 higher than the most powerful objects. The available data are consistent with a roughly constant space density of MLAGN from z=0.5-3, and they are also consistent with a mild decline in the space density above z=1 as predicted by the luminosity-dependent density evolution models of Ueda et al. (2003). This strong AGN activity at z=3 argues against previous suggestions that the majority of black hole accretion occurs at low redshift. A further implication of our investigation is that, as far as can be determined from current data, the majority of the AGN population at z~3 are selected by the LBG dropout technique. Although this is sensitive to AGN with a UV-excess due to an accretion disk, it predominantly identifies star-forming galaxies. A significant fraction of X-ray sources seem likely to be hosted by these more typical LBGs, further strengthening the starburst-AGN connection at high redshift.

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arXiv2005

X-ray properties of UV-selected star forming galaxies at z~1 in the Hubble Deep Field North

We present an analysis of the X-ray emission from a large sample of ultraviolet (UV) selected, star forming galaxies with 0.74<z<1.32 in the Hubble Deep Field North (HDF-N) region. By excluding all sources with significant detected X-ray emission in the 2 Ms Chandra observation we are able to examine the properties of galaxies for which the emission in both UV and X-ray is expected to be predominantly due to star formation. Stacking the X-ray flux from 216 galaxies in the soft and hard bands produces significant detections. The derived mean 2-10 keV rest-frame luminosity is 2.97+/-0.26x10^(40) erg/s, corresponding to an X-ray derived star formation rate (SFR) of 6.0+/-0.6 Msolar/yr. Comparing the X-ray value with the mean UV derived SFR, uncorrected for attenuation, we find that the average UV attenuation correction factor is \~3. By binning the galaxy sample according to UV magnitude and colour, correlations between UV and X-ray emission are also examined. We find a strong positive correlation between X-ray emission and rest-frame UV emission. A correlation between the ratio of X-ray-to-UV emission and UV colour is also seen, such that L(X)/L(UV) increases for redder galaxies. Given that X-ray emission offers a view of star formation regions that is relatively unaffected by extinction, results such as these can be used to evaluate the effects of dust on the UV emission from high-z galaxies. For instance we derive a relationship for estimating UV attenuation corrections as a function of colour excess. The observed relation is inconsistent with the Calzetti et al. (2000) reddening law which over predicts the range in UV attenuation corrections by a factor of ~100 for the UV selected z~1 galaxies in this sample (abridged).

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arXiv2004

Complete Multiwavelength Characterization of Faint Chandra X-ray Sources Seen in the Spitzer Wide-Area IR Extragalactic (SWIRE) Survey

We exploit deep combined observations with Spitzer and Chandra of the SWIRE survey in the ELAIS-N1 region, to investigate the nature of the faint X-ray and IR sources in common, to identify AGN/starburst diagnostics, and to study the sources of the X-ray and IR cosmic backgrounds. In the 17'x17' area of the Chandra ACIS-I image there are 3400 SWIRE near-IR sources with 4 sigma detections in at least 2 IRAC bands and 988 sources detected at 24micron with MIPS brighter than 0.1 mJy. Of these, 102 IRAC and 59 MIPS sources have Chandra counterparts, out of a total of 122 X-ray sources present in the area with S(0.5-8 kev)>10^(-15) erg/cm^2/s. We have constructed SEDs for each source using data from the 4 IRAC wavebands, Chandra fluxes, and optical follow-up data in the wavebands U, g', r', i', Z, and H. We fit a number of spectral templates to the SEDs at optical and infrared wavelengths to determine photometric redshifts and spectral categories, and also make use of diagnostics based on the X-ray luminosities, hardness ratios, X-ray to infrared spectral slopes and optical morphologies. Although we have spectroscopic redshifts for only a minority of the Chandra sources, the available SEDs constrain the redshifts for most of the sample sources, which turn out to be typically at 0.5<z<2. We find that 39% of the Chandra sources are dominated by type-1 AGN emission, 23% display optical/IR spectra typical of type-2 AGNs, while the remaining 38% fraction show starburst-like or even normal galaxy spectra. Since we prove that all these galaxies are dominated by AGN emission in X-rays this brings the fraction of type-1 AGNs to be 80% of the type-2: even assuming that all the Chandra sources undetected by Spitzer are type-2 AGNs, the type-1 fraction would exceed 1/3 of the total population (abridged).

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arXiv2004

Spectral energy distributions and luminosities of galaxies and AGN in the SPITZER SWIRE Legacy Survey

We discuss optical associations, spectral energy distributions and photometric redshifts for SWIRE sources in the ELAIS-N1 area and the Lockman Validation Field. The band-merged IRAC (3.6, 4.5, 5.8 and 8.0 mu) and MIPS (24, 70, 160 mu) data have been associated with optical UgriZ data from the INT Wide Field Survey in ELAIS-N1, and with our own optical Ugri data in Lockman-VF. The spectral energy distributions of selected ELAIS sources in N1 detected by SWIRE, most with spectroscopic redshifts, are modelled in terms of a simple set of galaxy and quasar templates in the optical and near infrared, and with a set of dust emission templates (cirrus, M82 starburst, Arp 220 starburst, and AGN dust torus) in the mid infrared. The optical data, together with the IRAC 3.6 and 4.5 mu data, have been used to determine photometric redshifts. For galaxies with known spectroscopic redshifts there is a notable improvement in the photometric redshift when the IRAC data are used, with a reduction in the rms scatter from 10% in (1+z) to 7%. The photometric redshifts are used to derive the 3.6 and 24 mu redshift distribution and to compare this with the predictions of models. For those sources with a clear mid infrared excess, relative to the galaxy starlight model used for the optical and near infrared, the mid and far infrared data are modelled in terms of the same dust emission templates. The proportions found of each template type are: cirrus 31%, M82 29%, Arp 220 10%, AGN dust tori 29%. The distribution of the different infrared sed types in the L_{ir}/L_{opt} versus L_{ir} plane, where L_{ir} and L_{opt} are the infrared and optical bolometric luminosities, is discussed.

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