| Proposal ID | 030605 |
| Title | Masers as Beacons of Compton Thick AGN Implications for X-ray Background Studies |
| Download Data Associated to the proposal | https://nxsa.esac.esa.int/nxsa-sl/servlet/data-action-aio?obsno=0306050101 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-xbamghy |
| Principal Investigator, PI | Dr Lincoln Greenhill |
| Abstract | The light of AGN dominates the hard cosmic X-ray background (HCXB). However, thecontribution of Compton thick objects is poorly constrained because they emitchiefly above the energy range where Chandra and XMM instruments are mostsensitive. However, preliminary analyses have shown that the occurrence of watermaser emission from AGN accretion disks (1.3 cm wavelength) is correlated withobscuring column; most lie in Compton thick nuclei. We propose EPIC study of tenmaser galaxies to confirm the correlation by doubling the underlying sample andto improve estimates of local space density for Compton thick systems. Wesuggest radio surveys to discover new masers in AGN may be an efficient means toidentify Compton thick systems and aid the study of the HCXB. |
| Publications |
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| Instrument | EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2 |
| Temporal Coverage | 2005-04-04T07:12:43Z/2005-11-19T04:07:11Z |
| Version | 17.56_20190403_1200 |
| Mission Description | The European Space Agencys (ESA) X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton) was launched by an Ariane 504 on December 10th 1999. XMM-Newton is ESAs second cornerstone of the Horizon 2000 Science Programme. It carries 3 high throughput X-ray telescopes with an unprecedented effective area, and an optical monitor, the first flown on a X-ray observatory. The large collecting area and ability to make long uninterrupted exposures provide highly sensitive observations. Since Earths atmosphere blocks out all X-rays, only a telescope in space can detect and study celestial X-ray sources. The XMM-Newton mission is helping scientists to solve a number of cosmic mysteries, ranging from the enigmatic black holes to the origins of the Universe itself. Observing time on XMM-Newton is being made available to the scientific community, applying for observational periods on a competitive basis. |
| Creator Contact | https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/xmm-newton-helpdesk |
| Date Published | 2008-01-04T00:00:00Z |
| Last Update | 2025-01-27 |
| Keywords | "efficient means", "emit chiefly", "compton thick objects", "agn dominates", "xray background", "local space density", "compton thick systems", "agn accretion dis", "xmm instruments", "EPIC", "energy range", "preliminary analyses", "poorly constrained", "maser galaxy", "obscuring column", "cm wavelength", "radio surveys", "compton thick nuclei", "XMM", "water maser emission" |
| Publisher And Registrant | European Space Agency |
| Credit Guidelines | European Space Agency, Dr Lincoln Greenhill, 2008, 'Masers as Beacons of Compton Thick AGN Implications for X-ray Background Studies', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-xbamghy |