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Luminous Mid-IR Selected Type-2 Quasars at Cosmic Noon in SDSS Stripe82 I: Selection, Composite Photometry, and Spectral Energy Distributions
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Luminous Mid-IR Selected Type-2 Quasars at Cosmic Noon in SDSS Stripe82 I: Selection, Composite Photometry, and Spectral Energy Distributions

Ben Wang, Joseph F Hennawi, Zheng Cai, Gordon T Richards, Jan-Torge Schindler, Nadia L Zakamska, Yuzo Ishikawa, Hollis B Akins and Zechang Sun
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, v 539(2), pp 1562-1594
09 Apr 2025
url
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf574View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

galaxies: high-redshift quasars: emission lines quasars: general quasars: supermassive black holes infrared: galaxies
We analyze 23 spectroscopically confirmed Type-2 quasars (QSOs) selected from WISE 22$\hbox{$\mu $m}$ band in the SDSS Stripe 82 region, focusing on their multi-band photometry and spectral energy distributions (SEDs). The 24 candidates were selected to be IR-luminous ($\rm flux_{W4} > 5mJy$), optically faint (r > 23) or with red color (r − W4 > 8.38). Gemini/GNIRS and Keck/LRIS observations confirm 23 to be Type-2 QSOs at z = 0.88 − 3.49. Multi-band photometry are used for SED fitting, covering 0.1$\rm \mu$m to 10$\rm \mu$m in the rest frame. The IR emission is dominated by the dust torus, with an average luminosity of $L_{\rm torus} = 10^{46.84} \rm erg\, s^{-1}$. We present three possibilities for the origin of the rest-UV/optical: scattered light, stellar emission, and the reddened accretion disk. Assuming an obscured:unobscured ratio of 1:1, the targets have bolometric luminosities of $L_{\rm bol} = 10^{46.28} - 10^{48.08} \rm erg\, s^{-1}$ and SMBH masses of $\rm 10^{8.18} {\rm M}_{\odot } - 10^{9.98} {\rm M}_{\odot }$, averaging $L_{\rm bol} = 10^{47.04}~{\rm {erg/s}}$ and $M_{\rm BH} = 10^{8.94} \rm {\rm M}_{\odot }$, assuming the Eddington limit. Compared to previous Type-2 AGN SEDs, our targets have a brighter dust torus and redder optical-IR color. By comparing the SED to JWST ‘little red dots’ (LRDs), we find that these IR-selected Type-2 QSOs have similar SED shapes to the LRDs. This survey demonstrates mid-IR selection as an efficient method to find luminous Type-2 QSOs and the composite photometry generated by this sample provide a guide for finding more Type-2 QSOs at higher redshift in the future.

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Astronomy & Astrophysics
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