The infrared to X-ray correlation spectra of unobscured type 1 active galactic nuclei

Acosta-Pulido, J. A.; Landt, H.; Ward, M. J.; Baloković, M.; Ramos Almeida, C.; García-Bernete, I.
Bibliographical reference

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 469, Issue 1, p.110-126

Advertised on:
7
2017
Number of authors
6
IAC number of authors
3
Citations
14
Refereed citations
13
Description
We use new X-ray data obtained with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), near-infrared (NIR) fluxes and mid-infrared (MIR) spectra of a sample of 24 unobscured type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGN) to study the correlation between various hard X-ray bands between 3 and 80 keV and the infrared (IR) emission. The IR to X-ray correlation spectrum (IRXCS) shows a maximum at ∼15-20 μm, coincident with the peak of the AGN contribution to the MIR spectra of the majority of the sample. There is also an NIR correlation peak at ∼2 μm, which we associate with the NIR bump observed in some type 1 AGN at ∼1-5 μm and is likely produced by nuclear hot dust emission. The IRXCS shows practically the same behaviour in all the X-ray bands considered, indicating a common origin for all of them. We finally evaluated correlations between the X-ray luminosities and various MIR emission lines. All the lines show a good correlation with the hard X-rays (ρ ≥ 0.7), but we do not find the expected correlation between their ionization potentials and the strength of the IRXCS.
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