On the low detection efficiency of disk water megamasers in Seyfert 2 AGN

Disk megamasers are a unique tool to study active galactic nuclei (AGN) sub-pc environment, and precisely measure some of their fundamental parameters. While the majority of disk megamasers are hosted in heavily obscured (i.e., Seyfert 2, Sy2) AGN, the converse is not true, and disk megamasers are very rarely found even in obscured AGN. The very low detection rate of such systems in Sy2 AGN could be due to the geometry of the maser beaming, which requires a strict edge-on condition. We explore some other fundamental factors which could play a role in a volume-limited survey of disk megamasers in Sy2 galaxies, most importantly the radio luminosity.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the Proceedings IAU Symposium No. 336, 2017 "Astrophysical Masers: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe

Compton-thick AGNs in the NuSTAR era. V: Joint NuSTAR and XMM-Newton spectral analysis of three "soft-Gamma" candidate CT-AGNs in the Swift-BAT 100-month catalog

We present the joint NuSTAR and XMM-Newton spectral analysis in the 0.6-70 keV band of three candidate Compton thick (CT-) AGN selected in the 100-month Swift-BAT catalog. These objects were previously classified as CT-AGNs based on low quality Swift-XRT and Swift-BAT data, and had soft photon indices (Gamma>2.2) that suggested a potential overestimation of the line of sight column density. Thanks to the high-quality NuSTAR and XMM-Newton data we were able to determine that in all three objects the photon index was significantly overestimated, and two out of three sources are reclassified from CT to Compton thin, confirming a previously observed trend, i.e., that a significant fraction of BAT-selected, candidate CT-AGNs with poor soft X-ray data are reclassified as Compton thin when the NuSTAR data are added to the fit. Finally, thanks to both the good XMM-Newton spatial resolution and the high NuSTAR and XMM-Newton spectral quality, we found that the third object in our sample was associated to the wrong counterpart: the correct one, 2MASX J10331570+5252182, has redshift z=0.14036, which makes it one of the very few candidate CT-AGNs in the 100-month BAT catalog detected at z>0.1, and a rare CT quasar.Comment: 12 Pages, 4 Figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

Compton-thick AGN in the NuSTAR era III: A systematic study of the torus covering factor

We present the analysis of a sample of 35 candidate Compton thick (CT-) active galactic nuclei (AGNs) selected in the nearby Universe (average redshift ~0.03) with the Swift-BAT 100-month survey. All sources have available NuSTAR data, thus allowing us to constrain with unprecedented quality important spectral parameters such as the obscuring torus line-of-sight column density (N_{H, z}), the average torus column density (N_{H, tor}) and the torus covering factor (f_c). We compare the best-fit results obtained with the widely used MyTorus (Murphy et al. 2009) model with those of the recently published borus02 model (Balokovic et al. 2018) used in the same geometrical configuration of MyTorus (i.e., with f_c=0.5). We find a remarkable agreement between the two, although with increasing dispersion in N_{H, z} moving towards higher column densities. We then use borus02 to measure f_c. High-f_c sources have, on average, smaller offset between N_{H, z} and N_{H, tor} than low-f_c ones. Therefore, low f_c values can be linked to a "patchy torus" scenario, where the AGN is seen through an over-dense region in the torus, while high-f_c objects are more likely to be obscured by a more uniform gas distribution. Finally, we find potential evidence of an inverse trend between f_c and the AGN 2-10 keV luminosity, i.e., sources with higher f_c values have on average lower luminosities.Comment: 35 Pages, 23 Figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

The NuSTAR Extragalactic Surveys: unveiling rare, buried AGNs and detecting the contributors to the peak of the Cosmic X-ray Background

We report on the results of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) detection by NuSTAR performed in three extragalactic survey fields (COSMOS, UDS, ECDFS) in three hard bands, namely H1 (8-16 keV), H2 (16-24 keV) and VH (35-55 keV). The aggregated area of the surveys is $\sim 2.7$ deg$^2$. While a large number of sources is detected in the H1 band (72 at the $97\%$ level of reliability), the H2 band directly probing close to the peak of the Cosmic X-ray Background (CXB) returns four significant detections, and two tentative, although not significant, detections are found in the VH band. All the sources detected above 16 keV are also detected at lower energies. We compute the integral number counts for sources in such bands, which show broad consistency with population synthesis models of the CXB. We furthermore identify two Compton-thick AGNs, one in the COSMOS field, associated with a hard and faint Chandra source, and one in the UDS field, never detected in the X-ray band before. Both sources are at the same redshift $z \sim 1.25$, which shifts their Compton-hump into the H1 band, and were previously missed in the usually employed NuSTAR bands, confirming the potential of using the H1 band to discover obscured AGNs at $z > 1$ in deep surveys.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Brightness reduction as a function of the angular position of a glare source

El efecto de difusión intraocular de luz generada por una fuente deslumbrante periférica se cuantifica mediante un modelo formulado empíricamente en términos de la luminancia de velo. Esta luminancia es directamente proporcional a la iluminancia generada en el ojo por dicha fuente e inversamente proporcional al cuadrado del ángulo de excentricidad subtendido por la fuente con el eje visual. En artículos previos se analiza el efecto de reducción de claridad en presencia de una fuente deslumbrante a 10º y se obtiene que el efecto aumenta al crecer la iluminancia generada por la fuente. En el presente trabajo se investiga la dependencia de la reducción de claridad con el ángulo de excentricidad de una fuente deslumbrante transitoria que genera 60lux en el ojo. Se usa un método de comparación de magnitudes en el que la claridad percibida de un estimulo de luminancia variable presentado sin deslumbramiento se compara con la de uno de referencia presentado en sincronía con el deslumbramiento. Para 5 adultos jóvenes emétropes resulta que, al disminuir el ángulo de 15º a 7.5º, la luminancia de igualación se reduce como lo predice el modelo de luminancia de velo. Esto indicaría que el fenómeno de reducción de claridad es fuertemente dependiente del velo producido por la fuente deslumbrante. Los resultados obtenidos se comparan con los de otros autores hallados bajo condiciones de deslumbramiento estable.The effect of intraocular scattering of light generated at a peripheral glare source is quantified using a model empirically formulated in terms of the veiling luminance. This luminance is directly proportional to the illuminance generated at the eye by this source and inversely proportional to the square of the eccentricity angle subtended by the source with the visual axis. In previous articles the effect of brightness reduction due to the presence of a glare source subtending 10º is analyzed and it results that this effect increases when the illuminance generated by the source increases. In the present paper the dependence of brightness reduction on the eccentricity angle of a transient glare source generating 60lux at the eye is investigated. A method of magnitudes comparison, consisting in comparing the perceived brightness of a stimulus of variable luminance presented without glare to that of a reference stimulus presented simultaneously with glare, is employed. For 5 emmetropic young adults it results that, when the angle decreases from 15º to 7.5º, the matching luminance decreases as predicted by the veiling luminance model. This would indicate that the brightness reduction phenomenon is strongly dependent on the veil produced by the glare source. The results obtained are compared to those of other authors found under stable glare conditions.Fil: Issolio, Luis Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Investigación en Luz, Ambiente y Visión. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Instituto de Investigación en Luz, Ambiente y Visión; ArgentinaFil: Juliana Matranga. No especifica;Fil: Pablo Barrionuevo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Investigación en Luz, Ambiente y Visión. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Instituto de Investigación en Luz, Ambiente y Visión; ArgentinaFil: Comastri, Silvia Ana Elva. No especifica;Fil: Gabriel Martin. No especifica;Fil: Colombo, Elisa Margarita. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Investigación en Luz, Ambiente y Visión. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Instituto de Investigación en Luz, Ambiente y Visión; Argentin

Metodología para evaluar efectos del deslumbramiento en amétropes corregidos

Light originated at a glare source and entering the eye, produces a veiling luminance that causes contrast decrease in retinal images and this effect could differ if the subject wears lenses or not. In this work the glare effects in subjects wearing lenses is studied inducing ammetropies in emmetropes. Contrast thresholds of sinusoidal patterns of 2 cpd and 0.5 cd/m2 are evaluated without and with glare, the glare source being steady, at 12o and producing 60 lx at the cornea. To exemplify the use of this methodology, 2 emmetropes under 8 different conditions are considered: naked eye; 3 control conditions (wearing neutral lenses) and 4 ammetropic conditions, inducing low (2 D) and medium (5 D) myopia and hyperopia with positive and negative contact lenses and correcting them with adequate ophthalmic lenses. The contrast threshold differences between the naked eye and the other 7 conditions are statistically not significant without glare and significant (up to more than 100%) with glare, independently of lens power and probably due to ectopic scattering and multiple reflections. The method proposed enables the determination of the glare effects if lenses are worn though a greater population is required to attain conclusive data.La luz originada en una fuente deslumbrante que entra al ojo, produce una luminancia de velo que causa una disminución de contraste en las imágenes retinianas y este efecto podría diferir si el sujeto usa lentes o no. En este trabajo se estudian los efectos del deslumbramiento en sujetos que usan lentes induciendo ametropías en emétropes. Se evalúan contrastes umbrales de patrones sinusoidales de 2 cpd y 0.5 cd/m2 sin y con deslumbramiento, la fuente deslumbrante siendo estable, a 12º y produciendo 60 lx en la córnea. Para ejemplificar el uso de esta metodología, se consideran 2 emétropes en 8 condiciones diferentes: ojo desnudo; 3 condiciones de control (lentes neutras) y 4 condiciones ametrópicas, induciendo miopía e hipermetropía baja (±2 D) y media (±5 D) con lentes de contacto positivas y negativas y corrigiéndolas con adecuadas lentes oftálmicas. Las diferencias de contraste entre el ojo desnudo y las otras 7 condiciones son estadísticamente no significativas sin deslumbramiento y significativas (hasta más de 100%) con deslumbramiento, independientemente de la potencia de la lente y probablemente debido a scattering ectópico y reflexiones múltiples. El método propuesto permite determinar los efectos de deslumbramiento al usar lentes aunque, para tener datos contundentes, se requiere una mayor poblaciónFil: de Paul Camacho, Anibal Gabriel. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Tecnologia. Departamento de Luminotecnia, Luz y Vision; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucuman. Instituto de Investigacion En Luz, Ambiente y Vision; ArgentinaFil: Colombo, Elisa Margarita. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Tecnologia. Departamento de Luminotecnia, Luz y Vision; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucuman. Instituto de Investigacion En Luz, Ambiente y Vision; ArgentinaFil: Comastri, Silvia Ana Elva. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingenieria. Departamento de Fisica; ArgentinaFil: Aparicio, Juan A.. Universidad de Valladolid. Facultad de Ciencias; EspañaFil: Menéndez, José Antonio. Universidad de Valladolid. Facultad de Ciencias; EspañaFil: Issolio, Luis Alberto. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Tecnologia. Departamento de Luminotecnia, Luz y Vision; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucuman. Instituto de Investigacion En Luz, Ambiente y Vision; Argentin

X-Ray Spectral Properties of Seven Heavily Obscured Seyfert 2 Galaxies

We present the combined Chandra and Swift-BAT spectral analysis of seven Seyfert 2 galaxies selected from the Swift-BAT 100 month catalog. We selected nearby (z ≤ 0.03) sources lacking a ROSAT counterpart that never previously been observed with Chandra in the 0.3-10 keV energy range, and targeted these objects with 10 ks Chandra ACIS-S observations. The X-ray spectral fitting over the 0.3-150 keV energy range allows us to determine that all the objects are significantly obscured, with N_H≥ 10^23cm^-2 at a >99% confidence level. Moreover, one to three sources are candidate Compton-thick Active Galactic Nuclei (CT-AGNs; I.e., N_H ≥ 10^24 cm^-2). We also test the recent spectral curvature method developed by Koss et al. to find candidate CT-AGNs, finding a good agreement between our results and their predictions. Because the selection criteria we adopted were effective in detecting highly obscured AGNs, further observations of these and other Seyfert 2 galaxies selected from the Swift-BAT 100 month catalog will allow us to create a statistically significant sample of highly obscured AGNs, therefore providing a better understanding of the physics of the obscuration processes

Thick tori around AGN: the case for extended tori and consequences for their X-ray and IR emission

Two families of models of dusty tori in AGNs (moderately thick and extended versus very thick and compact) are tested against available observations. The confrontation suggests that the former class better explains the IR broad-band spectra of both broad and narrow line AGNs, the anisotropy of the emission deduced by comparing IR properties of Seyfert 1 and 2 nuclei, the results of IR spectroscopy and those of high spatial resolution observations. There is however clear evidence for a broad distribution of optical depths. We also examine the relationship between IR and X-ray emission. The data support a view in which the matter responsible for the X-ray absorption is mostly dust free, lying inside the dust sublimation radius. The consequences of these results for the hard X-ray background as well as IR counts and background are discussed.Comment: 33 pages, 9 Postscript figures, to appear in ApJ, September 199