We report the discovery of a Compton-thick active galactic nucleus (AGN) at z = 4.76 in the 4 Ms Chandra Deep Field South. This object was selected as a V-band dropout in HST/ACS images and previously recognized as an AGN from optical spectroscopy. The 4 Ms Chandra observations show a significant (~4.2σ) X-ray detection at the V-band dropout position. The X-ray source displays a hardness ratio of HR = 0.23 ± 0.24, which, for a source at z ~ 5, is highly suggestive of Compton-thick absorption. The source X-ray spectrum is seen above the background level in the energy range of ~0.9-4 keV, i.e., in the rest-frame energy range of ~5-23 keV. When fixing the photon index to Γ = 1.8, the measured column density is N H = 1.4+0.9 -0.5 × 10^24 cm-2, which is Compton thick. To our knowledge, this is the most distant heavily obscured AGN, confirmed by X-ray spectral analysis, discovered so far. The intrinsic (de-absorbed), rest-frame luminosity in the 2-10 keV band is ~2.5 × 10^44 erg s-1, which places this object among type-2 quasars. The spectral energy distribution shows that massive star formation is associated with obscured black hole (BH) accretion. This system may have then been caught during a major coeval episode of BH and stellar mass assembly at early times. The measure of the number density of heavily obscured AGN at high redshifts will be crucial to reconstructing the BH/galaxy evolution history from the beginning.
Gilli R., Su J., Norman C., Vignali C., Comastri A., Tozzi P., et al. (2011). A Compton-thick AGN at z~5 in the 4Ms Chandra Deep Field South. THE ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS, 730, 28-32 [10.1088/2041-8205/730/2/L28].
A Compton-thick AGN at z~5 in the 4Ms Chandra Deep Field South
VIGNALI, CRISTIAN;
2011
Abstract
We report the discovery of a Compton-thick active galactic nucleus (AGN) at z = 4.76 in the 4 Ms Chandra Deep Field South. This object was selected as a V-band dropout in HST/ACS images and previously recognized as an AGN from optical spectroscopy. The 4 Ms Chandra observations show a significant (~4.2σ) X-ray detection at the V-band dropout position. The X-ray source displays a hardness ratio of HR = 0.23 ± 0.24, which, for a source at z ~ 5, is highly suggestive of Compton-thick absorption. The source X-ray spectrum is seen above the background level in the energy range of ~0.9-4 keV, i.e., in the rest-frame energy range of ~5-23 keV. When fixing the photon index to Γ = 1.8, the measured column density is N H = 1.4+0.9 -0.5 × 10^24 cm-2, which is Compton thick. To our knowledge, this is the most distant heavily obscured AGN, confirmed by X-ray spectral analysis, discovered so far. The intrinsic (de-absorbed), rest-frame luminosity in the 2-10 keV band is ~2.5 × 10^44 erg s-1, which places this object among type-2 quasars. The spectral energy distribution shows that massive star formation is associated with obscured black hole (BH) accretion. This system may have then been caught during a major coeval episode of BH and stellar mass assembly at early times. The measure of the number density of heavily obscured AGN at high redshifts will be crucial to reconstructing the BH/galaxy evolution history from the beginning.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
