MID-INFRARED PROPERTIES OF THE SWIFT BURST ALERT TELESCOPE ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI SAMPLE OF THE LOCAL UNIVERSE. I. EMISSION-LINE DIAGNOSTICS
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771 (United States)
- U.S. Naval Observatory, Washington, DC 20392 (United States)
- Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0440 (United States)
- Spitzer Science Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
We compare mid-infrared emission-line properties from high-resolution Spitzer spectra of a hard X-ray (14-195 keV) selected sample of nearby (z < 0.05) active galactic nuclei (AGNs) detected by the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) aboard Swift. The luminosity distribution for the mid-infrared emission lines, [O IV] 25.89 {mu}m, [Ne II] 12.81 {mu}m, [Ne III] 15.56 {mu}m, and [Ne V] 14.32/24.32 {mu}m, and hard X-ray continuum show no differences between Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 populations; however, six newly discovered BAT AGNs are under-luminous in [O IV], most likely the result of dust extinction in the host galaxy. The overall tightness of the mid-infrared correlations and BAT fluxes and luminosities suggests that the emission lines primarily arise in gas ionized by the AGNs. We also compare the mid-infrared emission lines in the BAT AGNs with those from published studies of ULIRGs, Palomar-Green quasars, star-forming galaxies, and LINERs. We find that the BAT AGN sample falls into a distinctive region when comparing the [Ne III]/[Ne II] and the [O IV]/[Ne III] ratios. These line ratios are lower in sources that have been previously classified in the mid-infrared/optical as AGNs than those found for the BAT AGNs, suggesting that, in our X-ray selected sample, the AGNs represent the main contribution to the observed line emission. These ratios represent a new emission line diagnostic for distinguishing between AGNs and star-forming galaxies.
- OSTI ID:
- 21452935
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 716; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
DISCOVERY OF STRONGLY BLUESHIFTED MID-INFRARED [Ne III] AND [Ne V] EMISSION IN ULIRGs
UNCOVERING THE SPECTRAL ENERGY DISTRIBUTION IN ACTIVE GALAXIES USING HIGH-IONIZATION MID-INFRARED EMISSION LINES
Related Subjects
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
COSMIC RAY SOURCES
COSMIC X-RAY SOURCES
DUSTS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
EMISSION
ENERGY RANGE
GALAXIES
GALAXY NUCLEI
HARD X RADIATION
IONIZING RADIATIONS
KEV RANGE
LUMINOSITY
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
QUASARS
RADIATIONS
STARS
TELESCOPES
UNIVERSE
X RADIATION
X-RAY GALAXIES