arXiv subjects

Yongjung Kim

Publications and source records attributed to Yongjung Kim.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A Naked Dwarf: Molecular Gas in the Completely Stripped HI Tail of VCC 1249

We present the first observational hints of the severe removal of both molecular and HI gas from the dwarf galaxy VCC 1249. This extreme stripping event is thought to be driven by the combined effects of tidal interaction and ram pressure. Using deep CO (2$-$1) observations from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), we obtained marginal CO detections in three regions within the stripped HI tail, with molecular masses of $\sim$10$^{5}$ to 10$^{6}$$M_{\odot}$, comparable to typical masses of giant molecular clouds. In contrast, we did not find CO emission within the stellar disk of VCC 1249. This indicates the severe removal of cold gas, which likely caused the sudden cessation of star formation in the galaxy. This identifies VCC 1249 as a unique laboratory for witnessing the rapid, environmentally-driven quenching of a dwarf galaxy. Our findings provide a critical observational link between gas removal mechanisms and the dramatic phase transition of cluster dwarfs from star-forming to quiescent systems.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

Comparing the Near-infrared Spectral Energy Distributions from Different Stellar Population Synthesis Models with SPHEREx Observations

While stellar population synthesis (SPS) models have been widely used for spectral analysis in optical wavelengths, their characteristics remain uncertain in the near-infrared (NIR) due to a relative lack of observed NIR spectra. The spectrophotometric data from SPHEREx are well-suited for investigating the performance of SPS models in the NIR, thanks to its wide wavelength coverage over $0.7-5.0~{\rm μm}$. In this work, we compare the observed SPHEREx data of SDSS compact galaxies, including 2,726 non-emission-line galaxies and 1,163 emission-line galaxies, to the NIR SEDs predicted from the full spectrum fitting of SDSS optical spectra. We use four different SPS models that extend into the NIR: E-MILES, Bruzual \& Charlot (BC03), Charlot \& Bruzual (CB19), and FSPS. We find that all four models tend to overpredict the stellar continuum at $2.4-5~{\rm μm}$ by $0.1-0.3~{\rm mag}$. This trend is particularly prominent for intermediate-age stellar populations ($\sim1-5~{\rm Gyr}$), suggesting a systematic bias in the NIR SED predictions of current SPS models. For stellar populations older than $5~{\rm Gyr}$, E-MILES shows relatively smaller offsets at $3.8-5~{\rm μm}$ compared to other models. Meanwhile, for emission-line galaxies, the SPS models underestimate the SED by up to $\sim0.5~{\rm mag}$ at longer wavelengths due to the contribution of non-stellar emission. Overall, these results highlight the necessity of refining the NIR stellar spectral features in SPS models, such as emissions from thermally pulsating asymptotic giant branch stars or molecular absorptions from cool stars.

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arXiv2026

A UV-to-Near-infrared QSO Composite Spectrum from the SPHEREx All-Sky Survey

We present a composite spectrum of $\sim 61,000$ type 1 SDSS QSOs (median $z \approx 1.26$), constructed using SPHEREx spectrophotometric data and covering a rest-frame wavelength range of $0.14-4.5~μ$m. The SPHEREx mission surveys the entire sky in 102 near-infrared spectral channels spanning $0.75-5.0~μ$m with a spectral resolution of $R \approx 35-130$, providing a unique dataset for building a statistically robust QSO composite. We find that the UV and optical continuum of the resulting composite can be described by a power law, $f_ν\propto ν^{α_ν}$, with a best-fit spectral index of $α_ν= -0.10$, while the near-infrared continuum is well-fit with a spectral index of $-1.46$. The power-law indices in both the optical and near-infrared regimes strongly depend on properties of QSOs, such that more luminous QSOs tend to exhibit flatter UV/optical and steeper near-infrared continua compared to those of less luminous ones. The IR-to-optical flux ratio decreases with increasing AGN luminosity, consistent with the predictions of the receding torus model. The line ratios of broad emission lines, including H$α$, Pa$β$, and Pa$α$, are in good agreement with predictions from Case B recombination, suggesting that internal extinction is almost negligible. The equivalent widths of these emission lines are proportional to AGN luminosity, contrary to the trend expected from the Baldwin effect. Finally, the shape of the composite is sensitive to host-galaxy contamination, which must be considered when utilizing this QSO composite for subsequent scientific applications.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

Only obscured yet luminous active galactic nuclei are closely associated with galaxy mergers: Direct observational evidence from type 2 active galactic nuclei

To establish a more comprehensive understanding of the connection between galaxy mergers and active galactic nuclei (AGNs), it is essential to disentangle the contributions of intrinsic AGN luminosity and dust extinction to the merger-AGN connection. Since tidal features identified in deep images serve as direct evidence of recent mergers, we studied the fraction of AGN hosts with tidal features ($f_T$) for a large sample of 748 type 2 AGNs at $z<0.063$. Specifically, we examined $f_T$ as a function of $E(B-V)$, derived from the Balmer decrement, and the internal-extinction-corrected luminosity of the [O III] $λ$5007 emission line ($L_{\text{[O III]}}$), which is a proxy for bolometric AGN luminosity. Our main finding is that $f_T$ is only significantly higher for AGNs that are simultaneously luminous and heavily dust-obscured. Specifically, AGNs with $\log L_{\text{[O III]}}\gtrsim41.5$ and $E(B-V)\gtrsim0.7$ exhibit a high $f_T$ of $\sim0.7$. In contrast, AGNs with either low luminosity ($\log L_{\text{[O III]}}\lesssim41.0$) or low dust obscuration ($E(B-V)\lesssim0.3$) show a low $f_T$ of $\lesssim0.2$. This trend suggests that galaxy mergers preferentially trigger AGNs that are simultaneously luminous and dust-obscured, whereas AGNs that are either luminous but unobscured or dust-obscured but less luminous are not strongly associated with merger-driven triggering. Based on several assumptions, our result can also be interpreted, despite certain caveats, within the framework of a merger-initiated evolution model for AGNs, suggesting that AGNs that are both obscured and luminous are temporally closer to merger events than those with lower luminosities and less dust obscuration.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

KMTNet Synoptic Survey of Southern Sky III: The First Data Release

We present the first public data release (DR1) of the KMTNet Synoptic Survey of Southern Sky (KS4). This deep, wide-field imaging survey covers a southern footprint of -85$^{\circ}$ < Decl. < -28.8$^{\circ}$ in the $B$, $V$, $R$, and $I$ bands using a network of three 1.6-m telescopes. Although primarily designed to secure reference imaging for gravitational wave counterpart identification, DR1 delivers science-ready data for $\sim$4,000 deg$^{2}$ to enable a broad range of astrophysical research. The release includes deep co-added images reaching median 5$σ$ depths of 22.0-23.5 AB mag. It is accompanied by two source catalogs containing over 200 million sources with SNR $>5$: an $I$-band-selected forced-photometry catalog optimized for consistent colors, and a band-merged catalog offering enhanced completeness. Validation demonstrates robust data quality, characterized by mean astrometric offsets of $+0.054 \pm 0.129$ arcsec in RA and $-0.015 \pm 0.120$ arcsec in Dec relative to Gaia DR3. {\refbf Photometric uniformity for point sources is maintained within $\pm 0.03$ mag relative to Gaia XP for 97.5--99.8\% of the footprint across all four bands.} A key advantage of KS4 is its uniform and contiguous spatial coverage. It extends to fainter magnitudes than other uniform surveys while filling irregular gaps in existing deep datasets. All data products are publicly available via the CDS and NOIRLab's Astro Data Lab.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2026

Black Hole Properties of Type-1 Active Galactic Nuclei in the North Ecliptic Pole Wide Field: I. Mid-infrared Sources with Optical Counterparts

We present measurements of black hole (BH) properties of 861 Type-1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP)-Wide field. These AGNs are detected in both optical and mid-infrared (MIR) surveys and are identified as Type-1 AGNs in optical spectroscopic surveys. By performing spectral energy distribution (SED) and line fitting, we obtained their MIR continuum luminosities ($L_{\rm MIR}$) as well as full width at half maximum (FWHM) values for the \ion{C}{4}, \ion{Mg}{2}, H$β$, and H$α$ lines. Using these measurements, we derived bolometric luminosities ($10^{43.20}$--$10^{47.27}~{\rm erg~s^{-1}}$), BH masses ($10^{7.29}$--$10^{9.67}$\,$M_{\odot}$), and Eddington ratios ($10^{-2.74}$--$10^{-0.08}$) for $\sim$450 objects over a wide redshift range ($z=0.09$--$4.71$). The use of $L_{\rm MIR}$ and FWHM values effectively alleviates the effects of dust extinction, enabling reliable estimates of BH properties even for dust-obscured AGNs. Moreover, we find that 34\,\% of the Type-1 AGNs in the NEP-Wide field are dust-obscured, and that their bolometric luminosities can be significantly underestimated without proper dust extinction correction. Our relatively extinction-free BH property estimates can (i) be combined with multi-wavelength data in the NEP-Wide field to facilitate diverse studies of AGN environments, number densities, host galaxies, and related topics, and (ii) serve as fiducial estimates for SPHEREx and other upcoming infrared (IR) spectroscopic missions covering the NEP-Wide field.

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arXiv2026

Galaxy-Galaxy Blending in SPHEREx Survey Data

The Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) will provide all-sky spectral survey data covering optical to mid-infrared wavelengths with a spatial resolution of 6\farcs2, which can be widely used to study galaxy formation and evolution. We investigate the galaxy-galaxy blending in SPHEREx datasets using the mock galaxy catalogs generated from cosmological simulations and observational data. Only $\sim0.7\%$ of the galaxies will be blended with other galaxies in all-sky survey data with a limiting magnitude of 19 AB mag. However, the fraction of blended galaxies dramatically increases to $\sim7$--$9\%$ in the deep survey area around the ecliptic poles, where the depth reaches $\sim22$ AB mag. We examine the impact of the blending in the number count and luminosity function analyses using the SPHEREx data. We find that the number count can be overestimated by up to $10$--$20\%$ in the deep regions due to the flux boosting, suggesting that the impact of galaxy-galaxy blending on the number count is moderate. However, galaxy-galaxy blending can marginally change the luminosity function by up to 50\%\ over a wide range of redshifts. As we only employ the magnitude limit at $K_s$-band for the source detection, the blending fractions determined in this study should be regarded as lower limits.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

The Redshifts from 122 Bands: Comparative Redshift Forecast for Low-Resolution Spectra from SPHEREx and 7-Dimensional Sky Survey (7DS)

The recently initiated SPHEREx and 7DS surveys will deliver low-resolution spectra ($R\approx 30-130$) for hundreds of millions of galaxies over the optical to near-infrared range ($0.4-5.0μm$), covering a wide sky area without sample selection. These unique datasets will improve redshift estimation and provide a rich redshift catalog for the community. In this study, we forecast the performance of widely-used photometric redshift estimation methods using simulated SPHEREx and 7DS data. Four template-fitting approaches and two machine-learning (ML) methods are used to derive photometric redshifts from low-resolution spectrophotometric data. We measure redshifts using mock catalogs based on the GAMA and COSMOS galaxy samples and achieve high precision for bright (13 < i < 18) galaxies, with $σ_{NMAD}\lesssim 0.005$, bias $\lesssim 0.005$, and a catastrophic failure rate $\lesssim 0.005$ for all methods employed. We find that the combined SPHEREx + 7DS dataset significantly improves redshift estimation compared to using either the SPHEREx or 7DS datasets alone, highlighting the synergy between the two surveys. Moreover, we compare the redshift estimation performance across magnitude ranges for the different methods and examine the probability distribution functions (PDFs) produced by the template-fitting approaches. As a result, we identify some factors that can affect the redshift measurements, like treatments on dust extinction or inclusion of flux uncertainty in the ML model. We also show that the PDFs are relatively well calibrated, although the confidence intervals are generally underestimated, particularly for bright galaxies in the template-fitting methods. This study demonstrates the strong potential of SPHEREx and 7DS to deliver improved redshift measurements from low-resolution spectrophotometric data, underscoring the scientific value of jointly utilizing both datasets.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

The SPHEREx Satellite Mission

SPHEREx, a NASA explorer satellite launched on 11 March 2025, is carrying out the first all-sky near-infrared spectral survey. The satellite observes in 102 spectral bands from 0.75 to 5.0 um with a resolving power ranging from 35 to 130 in 6.2 arcsecond pixels. The observatory obtains a 5-sigma depth of 19.5 - 19.9 AB mag for 0.75 to 3.8 um and 17.8 - 18.8 AB mag for 3.8 to 5.0 um after mapping the full sky four times over two years. Scientifically, SPHEREx will produce a large galaxy redshift survey over the full sky, intended to constrain the amplitude of inflationary non-Gaussianity. The observations will produce two deep spectral maps near the ecliptic poles that will use intensity mapping to probe the evolution of galaxies over cosmic history. By mapping the depth of infrared absorption features over the Galactic plane, SPHEREx will comprehensively survey the abundance and composition of water and other biogenic ice species in the interstellar medium. The initial data are rapidly released in the form of spectral images to the public. The project will release specialized data products over the life of the mission as the surveys proceed. The science team will also produce specialized spectral catalogs on planet-bearing and low-mass stars, solar system objects, and galaxy clusters 3 years after launch. We describe the design of the instrument and spacecraft, which flow from the core science requirements. Finally, we present an initial evaluation of the in-flight performance and key characteristics.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

Direct observational evidence that higher-luminosity type 1 active galactic nuclei are most commonly triggered by galaxy mergers

We examine the connection between galaxy mergers and the triggering of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) using a sample of 614 type 1 AGNs at $z<0.07$, along with a control sample of inactive galaxies matched to the AGNs for comparison. We used tidal features, detected in deep images from the DESI Legacy Imaging Survey, as direct evidence of recent mergers. We find that the fraction of type 1 AGN hosts with tidal features ($f_T$) is higher for AGNs with higher luminosities and (to a lesser extent) more massive black holes. Specifically, $f_T$ rapidly increases from $0.05\pm0.03$ to $0.75\pm0.13$ as the luminosity of the $[\mathrm{O\,{\scriptstyle III}}]$ $λ$5007 emission line ($L_{[\mathrm{O\,{\scriptstyle III}}]}$), an indicator for bolometric AGN luminosity, increases in the range $10^{39.5}\lesssim L_{[\mathrm{O\,{\scriptstyle III}}]}/(\mathrm{erg\,s}^{-1}) \lesssim10^{42.5}$. In addition, $f_T$ increases from $0.13\pm0.03$ to $0.43\pm0.09$ as black hole mass ($M_\mathrm{BH}$) increases in the range $10^{6.0}\lesssim M_\mathrm{BH}/M_{\odot}\lesssim10^{8.5}$. The fraction $f_T$ also increases with the Eddington ratio, although the trend is less significant compared to that with $L_{[\mathrm{O\,{\scriptstyle III}}]}$ and $M_\mathrm{BH}$. The excess of $f_T$, defined as the ratio of $f_T$ for AGNs to that of their matched inactive counterparts, exhibits similar trends, primarily increasing with $L_{[\mathrm{O\,{\scriptstyle III}}]}$ and weakly with $M_\mathrm{BH}$. Our results indicate that, in the local Universe, galaxy mergers are the predominant triggering mechanism for high-luminosity AGNs, whereas they play a lesser role in triggering lower-luminosity AGNs. Additionally, strong events, such as galaxy mergers, may be more necessary to activate massive black holes in more massive galaxies due to their lower gas fractions.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

AllBRICQS: The Discovery of Luminous Quasars in the Northern Hemisphere

We present the second catalog of bright quasars from the All-sky BRIght, Complete Quasar Survey (AllBRICQS), focusing on spectroscopically observed quasars in the Northern Hemisphere with Galactic latitude $|b| > 10^\circ$. This catalog includes their spectral data, redshifts, and luminosities. AllBRICQS aims to identify the last remaining optically bright quasars using data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and Gaia all-sky survey Data Release 3 (DR3). AllBRICQS searches for quasars that are brighter than $B_P = 16.5$ or $R_P = 16$ mag in Gaia DR3, based on simple selection criteria. Here, we report 62 new AllBRICQS quasars spanning various types, which include typical broad emission line quasars and the most luminous iron low-ionization broad absorption line quasars discovered to date. Spectroscopic observations were conducted using the Long-Slit Spectrograph on the 1.8-meter telescope at Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory, YFOSC on the 2.4-meter telescope at Lijiang Observatory, and BFOSC on the 2.16-meter telescope at Xinglong Observatory. We applied flux calibration using ZTF broadband photometry to correct for attenuation due to intermittent thin clouds during the observations. Redshifts were determined using inverse-variance weighted cross-correlation methods. Our targets span the bolometric luminosity range of $44.9<\log \left( L_{\rm bol} / {\rm erg~s^{-1}} \right)<48.0$ at redshifts between 0.09 and 2.48. These confirmed AllBRICQS quasars provide a valuable resource for future research into quasar evolution, black holes, their environments, and their host galaxies across multiple wavelengths.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

The Potential of the SPHEREx Mission for Characterizing Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon 3.3 μm Emission in Nearby Galaxies

Together with gas, stars, and supermassive black holes, dust is crucial in stellar and galaxy evolution. Hence, understanding galaxies' dust properties across cosmic time is critical to studying their evolution. In addition to photometric constraints on the absorption of blue light and its reemission at infrared wavelengths, dust grain properties can be explored spectroscopically via polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission bands in the mid-IR. The new SPHEREx space telescope conducts an all-sky spectrophotometric survey of stars and galaxies at wavelengths of 0.75-5$\,μ$m, making it ideal for studying the widespread presence of the 3.3$\,μ$m PAH emission across galaxy populations out to z ~ 0.4. In this paper, we simulated galaxy spectra to investigate SPHEREx's capability to study PAH emission in such galaxies. We find that for the all-sky survey the PAH 3.3$\,μ$m emission band flux can be measured to 30% accuracy at $\log(\rm M/{\rm M_\odot})>9.5$ and star formation rate (SFR) $> 1\,{\rm M_\odot\,yr^{-1}}$ at $z=0.1$, $\log(\rm M/{\rm M_\odot}) > 10.5$ and ${\rm SFR} > 10\,{\rm M_\odot\,yr^{-1}}$ at $z=0.2-0.3$, and $\log(\rm M/{\rm M_\odot})>11$ and ${\rm SFR} > 100\,{\rm M_\odot\,yr^{-1}}$ at $z=0.4$. For deep SPHEREx fields, a factor of ~10 deeper sensitivity limits can be reached. Overall, SPHEREx will enable the measurement of the 3.3$\,μ$m PAH band emission in several hundred thousand galaxies across the sky, providing a population study of the smallest dust grains ("nano grains") and radiation properties in massive galaxies in the nearby Universe.

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arXiv2025

Simulating Spectral Confusion in SPHEREx Photometry and Redshifts

We model the impact of source confusion on photometry and the resulting spectrophotometric redshifts for SPHEREx, a NASA Medium-Class Explorer that is carrying out an all-sky near-infrared spectral survey. Spectral confusion from untargeted background galaxies degrades sensitivity and introduces a spectral bias. Using interpolated spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from the COSMOS2020 catalog, we construct a Monte Carlo library of confusion spectra that captures the cumulative impact from faint galaxies. By injecting confusion realizations into galaxy SEDs and performing forced photometry at known source positions, we quantify photometric and redshift error and bias. For our current expected selection of sources for the cosmology analysis, we find typical 1-$σ$ confusion levels range from $0.8-3.8\ μ\mathrm{Jy}$ across $0.75-5.0\ μ\mathrm{m}$. While negligible at full-sky survey depth, spectral confusion becomes significant in the SPHEREx deep fields, reducing the number of intermediate-precision redshifts and inducing a small systematic overestimation in redshift. In parallel, we also model targeted source blending from beam overlaps, which contributes additional photometric noise without systematic redshift bias, provided that positions are known exactly. Together, confusion and blending vary with the depth of the selected reference sample, revealing a trade-off, where deeper selections reduce confusion but increase blending-induced noise. Our methodology informs optimization of the SPHEREx deep-field selection strategy and future treatments of stellar source blending and confusion.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

New Field OB and OBe Binaries of the SMC Wing: Observational Properties and Population Modeling

We present a radial velocity (RV) survey of the field OB and OBe stars of the SMC Wing. We use multi-epoch observations of 55 targets obtained with the Magellan IMACS and M2FS multi-object spectrographs to identify single- and double-lined spectroscopic binaries. We also use TESS light curves to identify new eclipsing binary candidates. We find that 10 each of our 34 OB (29\%) and 21 OBe (48\%) stars are confirmed binaries, and at least $\sim$ 6 more are candidates. Using our RV measurements, we set constraints on the companion masses, and in some cases, on periods, eccentricities and inclinations. The RV data suggest that OB binaries favor more circular orbits (mean eccentricity $\langle e\rangle = 0.08\pm 0.02$) while OBe binaries are eccentric ($\langle e\rangle = 0.45\pm 0.04$). We identify 2 candidate black hole binaries, [M2002] 77616, and 81941. We use BPASS to predict the frequencies of ejected OB and OBe stars and binaries, assuming OBe stars are binary mass gainers ejected by the companion supernova. We also predict the frequencies of black-hole, neutron-star, and stripped-star companions, and we model the distributions of primary and secondary masses, periods, eccentricities, and velocity distributions. The models are broadly consistent with the binary origin scenario for OBe stars, and predict an even larger number of post-supernova OB binaries. Comparison with the kinematics supports a significant contribution from dynamical ejections for both OB and OBe stars, although less so for binaries.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2024

Accuracy of Stellar Mass-to-light Ratios of Nearby Galaxies in the Near-Infrared

Future satellite missions are expected to perform all-sky surveys, thus providing the entire sky near-infrared spectral data and consequently opening a new window to investigate the evolution of galaxies. Specifically, the infrared spectral data facilitate the precise estimation of stellar masses of numerous low-redshift galaxies. We utilize the synthetic spectral energy distribution (SED) of 2853 nearby galaxies drawn from the DustPedia (435) and Stripe 82 regions (2418). The stellar mass-to-light ratio ($M_*/L$) estimation accuracy over a wavelength range of $0.75-5.0$ $μ$m is computed through the SED fitting of the multi-wavelength photometric dataset, which has not yet been intensively explored in previous studies. We find that the scatter in $M_*/L$ is significantly larger in the shorter and longer wavelength regimes due to the effect of the young stellar population and the dust contribution, respectively. While the scatter in $M_*/L$ approaches its minimum ($\sim0.10$ dex) at $\sim1.6$ $μ$m, it remains sensitive to the adopted star formation history model. Furthermore, $M_*/L$ demonstrates weak and strong correlations with the stellar mass and the specific star formation rate (SFR), respectively. Upon adequately correcting the dependence of $M_*/L$ on the specific SFR, the scatter in the $M_*/L$ further reduces to $0.02$ dex at $\sim1.6$ $μ$m. This indicates that the stellar mass can be estimated with an accuracy of $\sim0.02$ dex with a prior knowledge of SFR, which can be estimated using the infrared spectra obtained with future survey missions.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Exploring Unobscured QSOs in the Southern Hemisphere with KS4

We present a catalog of unobscured QSO candidates in the southern hemisphere from the early interim data of the KMTNet Synoptic Survey of Southern Sky (KS4). The KS4 data covers $\sim2500\,{\rm deg}^{2}$ sky area, reaching 5$σ$ detection limits of $\sim$22.1-22.7 AB mag in the $BVRI$ bands. Combining this with available infrared photometric data from the surveys covering the southern sky, we select the unobscured QSO candidates based on their colors and spectral energy distributions (SEDs) fitting results. The final catalog contains 72,964 unobscured QSO candidates, of which only 0.4% are previously identified as QSOs based on spectroscopic observations. Our selection method achieves an 87% recovery rate for spectroscopically confirmed bright QSOs at $z<2$ within the KS4 survey area. In addition, the number count of our candidates is comparable to that of spectroscopically confirmed QSOs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey in the northern sky. These demonstrate that our approach is effective in searching for unobscured QSOs in the southern sky. Future spectro-photometric surveys covering the southern sky will enable us to discern their true nature and enhance our understanding of QSO populations in the southern hemisphere.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Red Type-1 Quasars after Cosmic Noon and Impact on $L_{\rm UV}$-related Quasar Statistics

Over the past decades, nearly a million quasars have been explored to shed light on the evolution of supermassive black holes and galaxies. The ultraviolet-to-optical spectra of type-1 quasars particularly offer insights into their black hole activities. Recent findings, however, raise questions about the prevalence of red type-1 quasars of which colors might be due to dust-obscuration and their potential influence on luminosity-related properties of quasars. We examine the fraction of red type-1 quasars within the redshift range of $0.68\leq z < 2.20$, applying spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting using optical-to-MIR photometric data of Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 14 quasars. Approximately 10\,\% of the type-1 quasars exhibit red colors suggestive of dust obscuration. There is an association between the brightness of the MIR luminosity and a higher fraction of red type-1 quasars, albeit with negligible redshift evolution. By employing $E(B-V)$ values from the SED fitting, we obtained dereddened luminosity of the red type-1 quasars and reassess the quasar luminosity function (QLF) and black hole mass ($M_{\rm BH}$) estimates. Result shows a modest increase in the number density of bright quasars, linking to more flatten bright-end slope of QLFs, while $M_{\rm BH}$ adjustments are minimal. Current SDSS selections in optical could miss a significant population of heavily dust-obscured quasars. As future MIR surveys like SPHEREx expand, they may reveal enough obscured quasars to prompt a more profound revision of fundamental quasar properties.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Eddington Ratios of Dust-obscured Quasars at $z \lesssim 1$: Evidence Supporting Dust-obscured Quasars as Young Quasars

Dust-obscured quasars have been suspected as the intermediate stage galaxies between merger-driven star-forming galaxies and unobscured quasars. This merger-driven galaxy evolution scenario suggests that dust-obscured quasars exhibit higher Eddington ratios ($λ_{\rm Edd}$) than those of unobscured quasars. However, their high dust obscuration poses challenges to accurately measuring their $λ_{\rm Edd}$ using commonly employed bolometric luminosity ($L_{\rm bol}$) and black hole (BH) mass ($M_{\rm BH}$) estimators based on the ultraviolet (UV) or optical luminosity. Recently, Kim et al. (2023) established new estimators for $L_{\rm bol}$ and $M_{\rm BH}$ based on mid-infrared (MIR) continuum luminosity ($L_{\rm MIR}$), which are less affected by dust obscuration. These estimators enable the study of a large number of dust-obscured quasars across a wide redshift range. In this study, we measure the $λ_{\rm Edd}$ values of 30 dust-obscured quasars at $z \lesssim 1$, the largest sample size to date, using the $L_{\rm MIR}$-based $L_{\rm bol}$ and $M_{\rm BH}$ estimators. Our findings reveal that dust-obscured quasars exhibit significantly higher $λ_{\rm Edd}$ values compared to unobscured quasars. Moreover, we confirm that the enhanced $λ_{\rm Edd}$ values of dust-obscured quasars maintain consistency across the redshift span of 0 to 1. Our results strongly support the picture that dust-obscured quasars are in the earlier stage than unobscured quasars in the merger-driven galaxy evolutionary track.

astro-ph.GA↗