Mid-infrared Properties and Color Selection for X-ray Detected AGN in the MUSYC ECDF-S field

TL;DR

This study analyzes mid-infrared properties of X-ray detected AGN in the MUSYC ECDF-S field, evaluating IRAC color selection criteria and revealing limitations in identifying the full AGN population.

Contribution

It introduces a new catalog matching X-ray sources with IRAC counterparts and assesses the effectiveness of mid-infrared color selection for AGN identification.

Findings

Most X-ray AGN have power-law IR spectral shapes.

Over 50% of X-ray AGN show galaxy-like IR colors.

Traditional IR color criteria miss many moderate luminosity AGN.

Abstract

We present the mid-infrared colors of X-ray-detected AGN and explore mid-infrared selection criteria. Using a statistical matching technique, the likelihood ratio, over 900 IRAC counterparts were identified with a new MUSYC X-ray source catalog that includes ~1000 published X-ray sources in the Chandra Deep Field-South and Extended Chandra Deep Field-South. Most X-ray-selected AGN have IRAC spectral shapes consistent with power-law slopes, f_{nu} ~ nu^{alpha}, and display a wide range of colors, -2 < alpha < 2. Although X-ray sources typically fit to redder (more negative alpha) power-laws than non-X-ray detected galaxies, more than 50% do have flat or blue (galaxy-like) spectral shapes in the observed 3-8 micron band. Only a quarter of the X-ray selected AGN detected at 24 micron are well fit by featureless red power laws in the observed 3.6-24 micron, likely the subset of our sample whose infrared spectra are dominated by emission from the central AGN region. Most IRAC color-selection criteria fail to identify the majority of X-ray-selected AGN, finding only the more luminous AGN, the majority of which have broad emission lines. In deep surveys, these color-selection criteria select 10-20% of the entire galaxy population and miss many moderate luminosity AGN.