Related papers: AGN unified scheme and evolution: a Suzaku view
We discuss the abundance of Compton-thick AGN as estimated by the most recent population synthesis models of the cosmic X-ray background. Only a small fraction of these elusive objects have been detected so far, in line with the model…
We present Suzaku observations of five hard X-ray selected nearby Seyfert 2 galaxies. All the sources were clearly detected with the pin Hard X-ray Detector up to several tens of keV, allowing for a fairly good characterization of the…
We present the results of a Suzaku monitoring campaign of the Seyfert 2 galaxy, NGC7582. The source is characterized by very rapid (on timescales even lower than a day) changes of the column density of an inner absorber, together with the…
Obscured AGN are fundamental to understand the history of Super Massive Black Hole growth and their influence on galaxy formation. However, the Compton-thick AGN (NH>1e24 cm^-2) population is basically unconstrained, with less than few…
Recent evidence for a strong 'hard excess' of flux at energies > 20 keV in some Suzaku observations of type 1 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) has motivated an exploratory study of the phenomenon in the local type 1 AGN population. We have…
We present the 0.5 - 50 keV Suzaku broad-band X-ray spectral study of the Compton-thick AGN in NGC 5135. The Suzaku observation provides the first detection of NGC 5135 above 10 keV that allowed us, for the first time, to estimate the…
Suzaku observations of two hard X-ray (> 10 keV) selected nearby Seyfert 2 galaxies are presented. Both sources were clearly detected with the PIN Hard X-ray Detector up to several tens of keV, allowing for a fairly good characterization of…
The properties of Compton-thick AGN are reviewed, with particular emphasis on BeppoSAX hard X-ray observations. I also discuss evidence for the presence of Compton-thick, circumnuclear matter in unobscured AGN, and I briefly introduce the…
Detection of absorbed active galactic nuclei and their properties remains an elusive and important problem in understanding the evolution and activation of black holes. With the very hard X-ray survey conducted by Swift's Burst Alert…
We constrain the number density and evolution of Compton-thick Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), and their contribution to the extragalactic X-ray background. In the local Universe we use the wide area surveys from the Swift and INTEGRAL…
Our current understanding of the evolution of obscured accretion onto supermassive black holes is reviewed. We consider the literature results on the relation between the fraction of moderately obscured, Compton-thin AGN and redshift, and…
The Swift/BAT nine-month survey observed 153 AGN, all with ultra-hard X-ray BAT fluxes in excess of 10^-11 erg cm^-2 s^-1 and an average redshift of 0.03. Among them, four of the most luminous BAT AGN (44.73 < Log L(BAT) < 45.31) were…
(abridged)The majority of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) suffer from significant obscuration by surrounding dust and gas. X-ray surveys in the 2-10 keV band will miss the most heavily-obscured AGN in which the absorbing column density exceeds…
We present X-ray observations of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) in NGC 4785. The source is a local Seyfert 2 which has not been studied so far in much detail. It was recently detected with high significance in the 15-60 keV band in the…
Mkn 3 is a Seyfert 2 galaxy that is widely regarded as an exemplary Compton-thick AGN. We study the Suzaku X-ray spectrum using models of the X-ray reprocessor that self-consistently account for the Fe K$\alpha$ fluorescent emission line…
We present a uniform broadband X-ray (0.5-100.0 keV) spectral analysis of 12 Swift/Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) selected Compton-thick ($\log N_{\mathrm{H}}/\mathrm{cm}^{-2} \geq 24$) Active Galactic Nuclei (CTAGNs) observed with Suzaku. The…
In unified models, different types of active galaxy nuclei correspond to a single class of objects, where their observed differences are solely due to the different orientations of the obscuring material around the central inner regions.…
We present an analysis of a sample of Seyfert 1 galaxies observed with Suzaku. The aim of this work is to examine critically the evidence for a relativistic Fe K alpha line in the X-ray spectra of these AGN. The sample was compiled from…
We present here a new powerful diagnostic plot to select heavily obscured AGN in the local universe by combining infrared (Spitzer, IRAS) and X-ray (XMM) information. On the basis of this plot, we selected a sample of X-ray obscured sources…
The fraction of Compton thick sources is one of the main uncertainties left in understanding the AGN population. The Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) all-sky survey, for the first time gives us an unbiased sample of AGN for all but the…