MID-INFRARED SELECTION OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI WITH THE WIDE-FIELD INFRARED SURVEY EXPLORER. I. CHARACTERIZING WISE-SELECTED ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI IN COSMOS
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Mail Stop 169-221, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States)
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 665, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, LE1 7RH Leicester (United Kingdom)
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
- National Optical Astronomical Observatory, 950 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States)
- Physics and Astronomy Department, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States)
- Department of Physics, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616 (United States)
- Space Radiation Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is an extremely capable and efficient black hole finder. We present a simple mid-infrared color criterion, W1 - W2 {>=} 0.8 (i.e., [3.4]-[4.6] {>=}0.8, Vega), which identifies 61.9 {+-} 5.4 active galactic nucleus (AGN) candidates per deg{sup 2} to a depth of W2 {approx} 15.0. This implies a much larger census of luminous AGNs than found by typical wide-area surveys, attributable to the fact that mid-infrared selection identifies both unobscured (type 1) and obscured (type 2) AGNs. Optical and soft X-ray surveys alone are highly biased toward only unobscured AGNs, while this simple WISE selection likely identifies even heavily obscured, Compton-thick AGNs. Using deep, public data in the COSMOS field, we explore the properties of WISE-selected AGN candidates. At the mid-infrared depth considered, 160 {mu}Jy at 4.6 {mu}m, this simple criterion identifies 78% of Spitzer mid-infrared AGN candidates according to the criteria of Stern et al. and the reliability is 95%. We explore the demographics, multiwavelength properties and redshift distribution of WISE-selected AGN candidates in the COSMOS field.
- OSTI ID:
- 22036939
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 753, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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