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Luminous Mid-IR Selected Obscured Quasars at Cosmic Noon in SDSS Stripe82 II: Spectroscopic Diversity and Broad Hα Emissions
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Luminous Mid-IR Selected Obscured Quasars at Cosmic Noon in SDSS Stripe82 II: Spectroscopic Diversity and Broad Hα Emissions

Ben Wang, Yuzo Ishikawa, Joseph F Hennawi, Zheng Cai, Gordon T Richards, Nadia L Zakamska, Daming Yang and Jan-Torge Schindler
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, v 544(1), pp 687-707
Nov 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf1730
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https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf1730View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

galaxies: high-redshift quasars: emission lines quasars: general quasars: supermassive black holes infrared: galaxies
We present a multiwavelength spectroscopic survey of 23 luminous mid-infrared–selected Type-2 quasars at the redshifts of z = 0.88–3.49. The targets were selected in the SDSS Stripe 82 field based on their bright WISE 22 μm detections and extremely faint or red optical counterparts. Near-infrared (Gemini/GNIRS) and optical (Keck/LRIS and KCWI) spectroscopy confirm 23 out of 24 candidates as Type-2 quasars, including 12 objects at z > 2. The spectra exhibit strong rest-frame UV and optical emission lines (Lyα, C IV, [O III], Hα) with a wide range of line widths, indicating significant spectral diversity. Approximately one-third of the sample (8 of 23) shows broad Hα emission (FWHM >2000 km s−1) despite their Type-2 classification, while the rest have only narrow lines (FWHM <2000 km s−1) characteristic of classical obscured quasars. Notably, these broad-line Type-2 quasars share similar spectral energy distributions with the JWST-discovered “little red dot” (LRD), suggesting that our sample could be lower-redshift analogues of the heavily obscured broad-line AGNs uncovered by JWST. We also find that the [O III] λ5007 emission is relatively weak for their high bolometric luminosities, deviating from trends seen in lower-z Type-2 QSOs. A new composite spectrum for Type-2 QSOs is built using our sample. Overall, our results demonstrate that mid-IR selection efficiently uncovers diverse populations of obscured quasars and that spectroscopic follow-up is crucial for revealing their true nature. This study provides new insights into heavily obscured SMBH growth at cosmic noon and bridges the gap to the obscured AGN populations being revealed by JWST.

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Astronomy & Astrophysics
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