CALIBRATION OF [O IV] 26 {mu}m AS A MEASURE OF INTRINSIC ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS LUMINOSITY

Journal Article · Sat Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 2009 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/700/2/1878; COUNTRY OF INPUT: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA)· OSTI ID:21313726

Rigby, J R ^[1]; Diamond-Stanic, A M ^[2]

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1. Observatories, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 813 Santa Barbara St., Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States)
2. Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)

We compare [O IV] 25.89 {mu}m emission line luminosities with very hard (10-200 keV) X-rays from Swift, INTEGRAL, and BeppoSAX for a complete sample of 89 Seyferts from the Revised Shapley-Ames sample. Using Seyfert 1s, we calibrate [O IV] as a measure of active galactic nucleus (AGN) intrinsic luminosity, for particular use in high-obscuration environments. With this calibration, we measure the average decrement in 14-195 keV X-ray to [O IV] luminosity ratio for Seyfert 2s compared to type 1s. We find a decrement of 3.1 {+-} 0.8 for Seyfert 2s, and a decrement of 5.0 {+-} 2.7 for known Compton-thick Seyfert 2s. These decrements imply column densities of approximately log N{sub H} = 24.6 cm{sup -2} and 24.7 cm{sup -2}, respectively. Thus, we infer that the average Seyfert 2 is more highly obscured and intrinsically more luminous than would be inferred even from the very hard X-rays. We demonstrate two applications of the hard X-ray to [O IV] ratio. For the extremely obscured NGC 1068, we measure a column density of log N{sub H} = 25.3-25.4 cm{sup -2}. Finally, by comparing [O IV] luminosities to total infrared luminosities for 12 bright ultraluminous infrared galaxies, we find that four have substantial AGN contributions.

• OSTI ID: 21313726
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 700; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
CALIBRATION
EMISSION
GALAXY NUCLEI
HARD X RADIATION
KEV RANGE
LUMINOSITY
SEYFERT GALAXIES