Using Virtual Observatory techniques to search for Adaptive Optics suitable AGN

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how Virtual Observatory techniques can efficiently identify suitable AGN targets for adaptive optics observations, enabling detailed studies of black hole and galaxy relations at higher redshifts.

Contribution

It introduces a Virtual Observatory-based method to select AO-suitable AGN from multiwavelength data, expanding the potential for high-resolution galaxy studies.

Findings

Successfully identified a catalog of AO-suitable X-ray AGN at 0.1<z<1

Showed the effectiveness of Virtual Observatory techniques for target selection

Facilitated future high-resolution studies of AGN and host galaxies

Abstract

Until recently, it has been possible only for nearby galaxies to study the scaling relations between central black hole and host galaxy in detail. Because of the small number densities at low redshift, (luminous) AGN are underrepresented in such detailed studies. The advent of adaptive optics (AO) at large telescopes helps overcoming this hurdle, allowing to reach small linear scales over a wide range in redshift. Finding AO-suitable targets, i.e., AGN having a nearby reference star, and carrying out an initial multiwavelength classification is an excellent use case for the Virtual Observatory. We present our Virtual-Observatory approach to select an AO-suitable catalog of X-ray-emitting AGN at redshifts 0.1<z<1.