WISE is an extremely capable and efficient black hole finder. The same materialthat obscures AGN at UV, optical and soft X-ray energies is heated by thisprocess and emits strongly at mid-IR wavelengths. The all-sky WISE surveyprovides for the identification of the rarest, most luminous, most obscured AGNacross the whole sky. We propose a pilot XMM program to observe a sample ofextreme WISE-selected AGN at zvirgul2. These sources have rest-frame mid-IRlumimosities of nu-Lnu(5.8um)virgul6e46 erg/s, implying intrinsic hard X-rayluminosities of L(2-10 keV)virgul4e45 erg/s. We request XMM observations of foursources to study the high energy properties of these likely Compton-thick,extremely luminous AGN at zvirgul2. To date, few Compton-think AGN at such high redshift has been directly detected at X-ray energies.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2012-10-07T18:58:00Z/2013-01-03T03:09:27Z
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.
European Space Agency, Dr Daniel Stern, 2014, 'A Population of Extremely Luminous WISE-Selected Obscured AGN at z ∼ 2', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-8wdxvq9
