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Tracking down the source population responsible for the unresolved cosmic 6-8 keV background

Xue, Y.Q.; Wang, S.X.; Brandt, W.N.; Luo, B.; Alexander, D.M.; Bauer, F.E.; Comastri, A.; Fabian, A.C.; Gilli, R.; Lehmer, B.D.; Schneider, D.P.; Vignali, C.; Young, M.

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Authors

Y.Q. Xue

S.X. Wang

W.N. Brandt

B. Luo

F.E. Bauer

A. Comastri

A.C. Fabian

R. Gilli

B.D. Lehmer

D.P. Schneider

C. Vignali

M. Young



Abstract

Using the 4 Ms Chandra Deep Field-South (CDF-S) survey, we have identified a sample of 6845 X-ray-undetected galaxies that dominates the unresolved ≈20%-25% of the 6-8 keV cosmic X-ray background (XRB). This sample was constructed by applying mass and color cuts to sources from a parent catalog based on GOODS-South Hubble Space Telescope z-band imaging of the central 6'radius area of the 4 Ms CDF-S. The stacked 6-8 keV detection is significant at the 3.9σ level, but the stacked emission was not detected in the 4-6 keV band, which indicates the existence of an underlying population of highly obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Further examinations of these 6845 galaxies indicate that the galaxies on the top of the blue cloud and with redshifts of 1 <~ z <~ 3, magnitudes of 25 <~ z 850 <~ 28, and stellar masses of 2 × 108 <~ M sstarf/M ⊙ <~ 2 × 109 make the majority contributions to the unresolved 6-8 keV XRB. Such a population is seemingly surprising given that the majority of the X-ray-detected AGNs reside in massive (gsim 1010 M ⊙) galaxies. We discuss constraints upon this underlying AGN population, supporting evidence for relatively low mass galaxies hosting highly obscured AGNs, and prospects for further boosting the stacked signal.

Citation

Xue, Y., Wang, S., Brandt, W., Luo, B., Alexander, D., Bauer, F., …Young, M. (2012). Tracking down the source population responsible for the unresolved cosmic 6-8 keV background. Astrophysical Journal, 758(2), Article 129. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/758/2/129

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Oct 1, 2012
Deposit Date Apr 8, 2013
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Astrophysical Journal
Print ISSN 0004-637X
Electronic ISSN 1538-4357
Publisher American Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 758
Issue 2
Article Number 129
DOI https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/758/2/129
Keywords Diffuse radiation, Galaxies, Active, Surveys, X-rays, Diffuse background.

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Copyright Statement
© 2012. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.





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