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Identifying Distant AGNs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 July 2014

Laura Trouille ,
Amy Barger  and
Christy Tremonti
Laura Trouille
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy & Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA), Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA email: [email protected] Dept. of Astronomy, The Adler Planetarium, Chicago, IL, USA email: [email protected], [email protected]
Amy Barger
Affiliation:
Dept. of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, WI, USA email: [email protected], [email protected] Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA email: [email protected]
Christy Tremonti
Affiliation:
Dept. of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, WI, USA email: [email protected], [email protected]
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Abstract

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The Baldwin, Phillips, and Terlevich emission-line ratio diagnostic ([OIII]/Hβ versus [NII]/Hα, hereafter BPT diagram) efficiently separates galaxies whose signal is dominated by star formation (BPT-SF) from those dominated by AGN activity (BPT-AGN). Yet the BPT diagram is limited to z<0.5, the redshift at which [NII]λ6584 leaves the optical spectral window. Using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), we construct a new diagnostic, or TBT diagram, that is based on rest-frame g−z color, [NeIII]λ3869, and [OII]λλ3726+3729 and can be used for galaxies out to z<1.4. The TBT diagram identifies 98.7% of the SDSS BPT-AGN as TBT-AGN and 97% of the SDSS BPT-SF as TBT-SF. Furthermore, it identifies 97% of the OPTX Chandra X-ray selected AGNs as TBT-AGN. This is in contrast to the BPT diagram, which misidentifies 20% of X-ray selected AGNs as BPT-SF.

Keywords

cosmology: observations — galaxies: active — galaxies: nuclei — galaxies: Seyfert — galaxies: distances and redshifts — X-rays: galaxies
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 9 , Symposium S304: Multiwavelength AGN Surveys and Studies , October 2013 , pp. 221 - 224
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2014 

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