Heavily reddened type 1 quasars at z > 2 I: Evidence for significant obscured black-hole growth at the highest quasar luminosities

Abstract

We present a new population of z>2 dust-reddened, Type 1 quasars with 0.5<E(B-V)<1.5, selected using near infra-red (NIR) imaging data from the UKIDSS-LAS, ESO-VHS and WISE surveys. NIR spectra obtained using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) for 24 new objects bring our total sample of spectroscopically confirmed hyperluminous (>10^{13}L_0), high-redshift dusty quasars to 38. There is no evidence for reddened quasars having significantly different H$\alpha$ equivalent widths relative to unobscured quasars. The average black-hole masses (~10^9-10^10 M_0) and bolometric luminosities (~10^{47} erg/s) are comparable to the most luminous unobscured quasars at the same redshift, but with a tail extending to very high luminosities of ~10^{48} erg/s. Sixty-six per cent of the reddened quasars are detected at $>3\sigma$ at 22um by WISE. The average 6um rest-frame luminosity is log10(L6um/erg/s)=47.1+/-0.4, making the objects among the mid-infrared brightest AGN currently known. The extinction-corrected space-density estimate now extends over three magnitudes (-30 < M_i < -27) and demonstrates that the reddened quasar luminosity function is significantly flatter than that of the unobscured quasar population at z=2-3. At the brightest magnitudes, M_i < -29, the space density of our dust-reddened population exceeds that of unobscured quasars. A model where the probability that a quasar becomes dust-reddened increases at high luminosity is consistent with the observations and such a dependence could be explained by an increase in luminosity and extinction during AGN-fuelling phases. The properties of our obscured Type 1 quasars are distinct from the heavily obscured, Compton-thick AGN that have been identified at much fainter luminosities and we conclude that they likely correspond to a brief evolutionary phase in massive galaxy formation.

arXiv comment16 pages, 9 figures (+ 2 appendices), Accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (54)

• The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE): Mission Description and Initial On-orbit Performance
• Unified Schemes for Radio-Loud Active Galactic Nuclei
• Observational Evidence of AGN Feedback
• The UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS)
• Reverberation Measurements for 17 Quasars and the Size-Mass-Luminosity Relations in Active Galactic Nuclei
• A Cosmological Framework for the Co-Evolution of Quasars, Supermassive Black Holes, and Elliptical Galaxies: I. Galaxy Mergers & Quasar Activity
• A Catalog of Quasar Properties from SDSS DR7
• Determining Central Black Hole Masses in Distant Active Galaxies and Quasars. II. Improved Optical and UV Scaling Relationships
• Cosmological Evolution of the Hard X-ray AGN Luminosity Function and the Origin of the Hard X-ray Background
• The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Catalog V. Seventh Data Release
• Estimating Black Hole Masses in Active Galaxies Using the Halpha Emission Line
• The Relationship Between Luminosity and Broad-Line Region Size in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Mid-Infrared Selection of AGN with the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer. I. Characterizing WISE-Selected AGN in COSMOS
• Identifying Luminous AGN in Deep Surveys: Revised IRAC Selection Criteria
• The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Catalog IV. Fifth Data Release
• Mid-Infrared Selection of Active Galactic Nuclei with the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer. II. Properties of WISE-Selected Active Galactic Nuclei in the NDWFS Boötes Field
• Red and Reddened Quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• The XMM-Newton Wide-Field Survey in the COSMOS field (XMM-COSMOS): demography and multiwavelength properties of obscured and unobscured luminous AGN
• Evidence for Quasar Activity Triggered by Galaxy Mergers in HST Observations of Dust-reddened Quasars
• Dust Reddening in SDSS Quasars
• The Chandra COSMOS Survey: III. Optical and Infrared Identification of X-ray Point Sources
• The Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasar catalog: tenth data release
• The First Hyper-Luminous Infrared Galaxy Discovered by WISE
• A Near-Infrared Spectral Template for Quasars
• The SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: The Quasar Luminosity Function from Data Release Nine
• Half of the Most Luminous Quasars May Be Obscured: Investigating the Nature of WISE-Selected Hot, Dust-Obscured Galaxies
• The obscuration by dust of most of the growth of supermassive black holes
• FIRST-2MASS Red Quasars: Transitional Objects Emerging from the Dust
• X-shooter reveals powerful outflows in z~1.5 X-ray selected obscured quasi stellar objects
• Submillimeter Follow-up of WISE-Selected Hyperluminous Galaxies
• Black-Hole Mass and Growth Rate at High Redshift
• The FIRST-2MASS Red Quasar Survey II: An anomalously high fraction of LoBALs in searches for dust-reddened quasars
• A Physical Model for z~2 Dust Obscured Galaxies
• The FIRST-2MASS Red Quasar Survey
• NuSTAR and XMM-Newton Observations of Luminous, Heavily Obscured, WISE-Selected Quasars at z ~ 2
• Extremely Red Quasars from SDSS, BOSS and WISE: Classification of Optical Spectra
• Candidate Type II Quasars at 2 < z < 4.3 in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III
• Heavily Reddened Quasars at z~2 in the UKIDSS Large Area Survey: A Transitional Phase in AGN Evolution
• Luminous K-band Selected Quasars from UKIDSS
• The M_BH - M_star relation for X-ray obscured, red QSOs at 1.2< z <2.6
• Finding Rare AGN: XMM-Newton and Chandra Observations of SDSS Stripe 82
• An I-Band-Selected Sample of Radio-Emitting Quasars: Evidence for a Large Population of Red Quasars
• The large area KX quasar catalogue: I. Analysis of the photometric redshift selection and the complete quasar catalogue
• Red synchrotron jets in Parkes quasars
• Hot-Dust-Poor Quasars in Mid-Infrared and Optically Selected Samples
• A comparative analysis of virial black-hole mass estimates of moderate-luminosity active galactic nuclei using Subaru/FMOS
• Infrared Classification and Luminosities For Dusty AGN and the Most Luminous Quasars
• Hyper-luminous Reddened Broad-Line Quasars at z~2 from the VISTA Hemisphere Survey and WISE All Sky Survey
• Radiation pressure, absorption and AGN feedback in the Chandra Deep Fields
• Ultraviolet Emission-Line Correlations in Hubble/COS Spectra of Active Galactic Nuclei: Single-Epoch Black Hole Masses
• ULASJ1234+0907: The Reddest Type 1 Quasar at z=2.5 Revealed in the X-ray and Far Infra-red
• Near Infrared Spectra and Intrinsic Luminosities of Candidate Type II Quasars at 2 < z < 3.4
• The Spectra of Red Quasars
• Outflow and hot dust emission in high redshift quasars

Cited by in corpus (70)

• Active Galactic Nuclei: what's in a name?
• Cool Outflows in Galaxies and their Implications
• Forming Compact Massive Galaxies
• JWST UNCOVER: Extremely red and compact object at$z_{\mathrm{phot}}\simeq 7.6$ triply imaged by Abell 2744
• Extremely Red Quasars in BOSS
• The X-ray properties of $z>6$ quasars: no evident evolution of accretion physics in the first Gyr of the Universe
• The WISSH Quasars Project III. X-ray properties of hyper-luminous quasars
• The ALMA view of the high-redshift relation between supermassive black holes and their host galaxies
• ERQs are the BOSS of Quasar Samples: The Highest-Velocity [OIII] Quasar Outflows
• The WISSH quasars Project: II. Giant star nurseries in hyper-luminous quasars
• The WISSH QSOs project IX. Cold gas content and environment of luminous QSOs at z~2.4-4.7
• Modelling type 1 quasar colours in the era of Rubin and Euclid
• The Discovery of Gas-Rich, Dusty Starbursts in Luminous Reddened Quasars at $z\sim 2.5$ with ALMA
• Heavy X-ray obscuration in the most-luminous galaxies discovered by WISE
• Eddington-Limited Accretion in z~2 WISE-selected Hot, Dust-Obscured Galaxies
• The energetics of AGN radiation pressure-driven outflows
• Luminous WISE-selected Obscured, Unobscured, and Red Quasars in Stripe 82
• The multiwavelength properties of red QSOs -- Evidence for dusty winds as the origin of QSO reddening
• UNCOVER: 404 Error -- Models Not Found for the Triply Imaged Little Red Dot A2744-QSO1
• Fundamental differences in the radio properties of red and blue quasars: enhanced compact AGN emission in red quasars
• No signs of star formation being regulated in the most luminous quasars at z~2 with ALMA
• A Preferential Growth Channel for Supermassive Black Holes in Elliptical Galaxies at z<2
• High redshift extremely red quasars in X-rays
• [OIII] Emission Line Properties in a New Sample of Heavily Reddened Quasars at $z>2$
• Revisiting the "forbidden" region: AGN radiative feedback with radiation trapping
• X-ray Observations of Luminous Dusty Quasars at z > 2
• Hot Dust-Obscured Galaxies with Excess Blue Light
• AGN-starburst evolutionary connection : a physical interpretation based on radiative feedback
• Fundamental differences in the radio properties of red and blue quasars: Insight from the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS)
• Super-Eddington Accretion in the WISE-Selected Extremely Luminous Infrared Galaxy W2246-0526
• Spectropolarimetry of High Redshift Obscured and Red Quasars
• Spectral Classification and Ionized Gas Outflows in $z\sim 2$ WISE-Selected Hot Dust-Obscured Galaxies
• The fraction and kinematics of broad absorption line quasars across cosmic time
• The hyperluminous Compton-thick $z\sim 2$ quasar nucleus of the hot DOG W1835+4355 observed by NuSTAR
• Red quasars blow out molecular gas from galaxies during the peak of cosmic star formation
• On R-W1 as A Diagnostic to Discover Obscured Active Galactic Nuclei in Wide-Area X-ray Surveys
• Peering through the Dust: NuSTAR Observations of Two FIRST-2MASS Red Quasars
• Probing the Structure and Evolution of BASS AGN through Eddington Ratios
• Fundamental differences in the properties of red and blue quasars: measuring the reddening and accretion properties with X-shooter
• Discovery of intergalactic bridges connecting two faint $z\sim 3$ quasars
• AGN radiative feedback in dusty quasar populations
• The Dust-to-Gas Ratio and the Role of Radiation Pressure in Luminous, Obscured Quasars
• Imaging Polarization of the Blue-Excess Hot Dust-Obscured Galaxy WISE J011601.41-050504.0
• Probing the Inner Circumgalactic Medium and Quasar Illumination around the Reddest `Extremely Red Quasar' (ERQ)
• The Interstellar Medium Properties of Heavily Reddened Quasars & Companions at z~2.5 with ALMA & JVLA
• The Hunt for Red Quasars: Luminous Obscured Black Hole Growth Unveiled in the Stripe 82 X-ray Survey
• Faint COSMOS AGN at z~3.3 - I. Black Hole Properties and Constraints on Early Black Hole Growth
• Candidate Massive Galaxies at $z\sim 4$ in the Dark Energy Survey
• Resolving Disks & Mergers in $z\sim 2$ Heavily Reddened Quasars and their Companion Galaxies with ALMA
• Ubiquitous radio emission in quasars: predominant AGN origin and a connection to jets, dust and winds
• A novel Bayesian approach for decomposing the radio emission of quasars: I. Modelling the radio excess in red quasars
• A Big Red Dot: Scattered light, host galaxy signatures and multi-phase gas flows in a luminous, heavily reddened quasar at cosmic noon
• BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey -- XIII. The nature of the most luminous obscured AGN in the low-redshift universe
• UV-Luminous, Star-Forming Hosts of z~2 Reddened Quasars in the Dark Energy Survey
• Host Dark Matter Halos of SDSS Red and Blue Quasars: No Significant Difference in Large-scale Environment
• Radiation pattern and outflow geometry: a new probe of black hole spin?
• Far-infrared emission in luminous quasars accompanied by nuclear outflows
• Gaia-assisted selection of a quasar reddened by dust in an extremely-strong Damped Lyman-α Absorber at z=2.226
• Cold Dust Emission from X-ray AGN in the SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey: Dependence on Luminosity, Obscuration & AGN Activity
• Heavily Reddened z~2 Type 1 Quasars II: H-alpha Star Formation Constraints from SINFONI IFU Observations
• Unveiling Gargantua: A new search strategy for the most massive central cluster black holes
• Eddington Ratios of Dust-obscured Quasars at $z\lesssim 1$: Evidence Supporting Dust-obscured Quasars as Young Quasars
• A SCUBA-2 850$\mu$m Survey of Heavily Reddened Quasars at z~2
• A population of Optically Quiescent Quasars from WISE and SDSS
• Improved selection of extremely red quasars with boxy CIV lines in BOSS
• Infrared spectroscopic confirmation of z~2 photometrically-selected obscured quasars
• Searching for Low-Redshift Hot Dust-Obscured Galaxies
• DEIMOS Observations of WISE-Selected, Optically Obscured AGNs
• A quasar shedding its dust cocoon at redshift 2
• BASS XXX: Distribution Functions of DR2 Eddington-ratios, Black Hole Masses, and X-ray Luminosities