THE EXTENDED CHANDRA DEEP FIELD-SOUTH SURVEY: OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPY OF FAINT X-RAY SOURCES WITH THE VLT AND KECK
- Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (IPMU), University of Tokyo, Kashiwanoha 5-1-5, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba 277-8568 (Japan)
- European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, Garching D-85748 (Germany)
- Max-Planck-Institute for Plasma Physics, Boltzmannstrass 2, Garching D-85748 (Germany)
- Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, 98bis Boulevard, F-75014 Paris (France)
- California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
- Eoetvoes University, Institute of Physics, 1117 Budapest, Pazmany P. s. 1/A (Hungary)
- Max-Planck-Institut fuer extraterrestrische Physik, D-84571 Garching (Germany)
- Instituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna, Via Ranzani 1, 40127 Bologna (Italy)
- INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, via G. B. Tiepolo 11, 34131 Trieste (Italy)
- Dipartimento di Astronomia, Universita degli Studi di Bologna, Via Ranzani 1, 40127 Bologna (Italy)
- Department of Physics, University of Durham, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE (United Kingdom)
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 525 Davey Lab, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)
- Johns Hopkins University, Homewood Campus, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
- Space Science Institute, 4750 Walnut Street, Suite 205, Boulder, CO 80301 (United States)
We present the results of a program to acquire high-quality optical spectra of X-ray sources detected in the Extended-Chandra Deep Field-South (E-CDF-S) and its central 2 Ms area. New spectroscopic redshifts, up to z = 4, are measured for 283 counterparts to Chandra sources with deep exposures (t {approx} 2-9 hr per pointing) using multi-slit facilities on both VLT (VIMOS) and Keck (DEIMOS), thus bringing the total number of spectroscopically identified X-ray sources to over 500 in this survey field. Since our new spectroscopic identifications are mainly associated with X-ray sources in the shallower 250 ks coverage, we provide a comprehensive catalog of X-ray sources detected in the E-CDF-S including the optical and near-infrared counterparts, determined by a likelihood routine, and redshifts (both spectroscopic and photometric), that incorporate published spectroscopic catalogs, thus resulting in a final sample with a high fraction (80%) of X-ray sources having secure identifications. We demonstrate the remarkable coverage of the luminosity-redshift plane now accessible from our data while emphasizing the detection of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) that contribute to the faint end of the luminosity function (L {sub 0.5-8keV} {approx} 10{sup 43}-10{sup 44} erg s{sup -1}) at 1.5 {approx}< z {approx}< 3 including those with and without broad emission lines. Our redshift catalog includes 17 type-2 QSOs at 1 {approx}< z {approx}< 3.5 that significantly increases such samples (2x). Based on our deepest (9 hr) VLT/VIMOS observation, we identify 'elusive' optically faint galaxies (R {sub mag} {approx} 25) at z {approx} 2-3 based upon the detection of interstellar absorption lines (e.g., O II+Si IV, C II], C IV); we highlight one such case, an absorption-line galaxy at z = 3.208 having no obvious signs of an AGN in its optical spectrum. In addition, we determine accurate distances to eight galaxy groups with extended X-ray emission detected both by Chandra and XMM-Newton. Finally, we measure the physical extent of known large-scale structures (z {approx} 0.7) evident in the CDF-S. While a thick sheet (a radial size of 67.7 Mpc) at z {approx} 0.67 extends over the full field, the z {approx} 0.73 structure is thin (18.8 Mpc) and filamentary as traced by both AGNs and galaxy groups. In the Appendix, we provide spectroscopic redshifts for 49 counterparts to fainter X-ray sources detected only in the 1 and 2 Ms catalogs, and 48 Very Large Array radio sources not detected in X-rays.
- OSTI ID:
- 21454932
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series, Vol. 191, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0067-0049/191/1/124; ISSN 0067-0049
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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