Journal article
Quantifying the Active Galactic Nucleus Fraction in Cosmic Voids via Mid-infrared Variability
The Astrophysical journal, v 991(1), 52
15 Sep 2025
Featured in Collection : Drexel's Newest Publications
Abstract
Observations and theoretical simulations suggest that the large-scale environment plays a significant role in how galaxies form and evolve and, in particular, whether and when galaxies host an actively accreting supermassive black hole in their center (i.e., an active galactic nucleus; AGN). One signature of AGN activity is luminosity variability, which appears in the mid-IR when circumnuclear dust reprocesses UV and optical photons from the AGN accretion disk. We present here a suite of constraints on the fraction of AGN activity in the most underdense regions of the Universe (cosmic voids) relative to the rest of the Universe (cosmic walls) by using ∼12 yr of combined multiepoch data from AllWISE and NEOWISE to quantify mid-IR variability. We find clear evidence for a larger mid-IR variability−AGN fraction among high- and moderate-luminosity void galaxies compared to their wall counterparts. We also show that mid-IR variability identifies a rather large and unique population of AGNs, the majority of which have eluded detection using more traditional AGN selection methods such as single-epoch mid-IR color selection. The fraction of these newly recovered AGNs is larger among galaxies in voids, suggesting once again more prolific AGN activity in the most underdense large-scale structures of the Universe.
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Details
- Title
- Quantifying the Active Galactic Nucleus Fraction in Cosmic Voids via Mid-infrared Variability
- Creators
- Anish S. Aradhey (Corresponding Author) - University of North Carolina at Chapel HillAnca Constantin - James Madison UniversityMichael S. Vogeley - Drexel UniversityKelly A. Douglass - University of Rochester
- Publication Details
- The Astrophysical journal, v 991(1), 52
- Publisher
- Institute of Physics
- Number of pages
- 16
- Grant note
- Alfred P. Sloan FoundationNational Science FoundationUS Department of EnergyNational Aeronautics and Space AdministrationJapanese MonbukagakushoMax Planck SocietyHigher Education Funding Council for England
Funding for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and SDSS-II has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Participating Institutions, the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Japanese Monbukagakusho, the Max Planck Society, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The SDSS website is http://www.sdss.org/.
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Physics
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001572875400001
- Other Identifier
- 991022097354504721