Related papers: Obscured Active Galactic Nuclei
We describe a complete volume limited sample of nearby active galaxies selected by their 14-195keV luminosity, and outline its rationale for studying the mechanisms regulating gas inflow and outflow. We describe also a complementary sample…
The inevitable spread in properties of the toroidal obscuration of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) invalidates the widespread notion that type 1 and 2 AGNs are intrinsically the same objects, drawn randomly from the distribution of torus…
We review some of the main physical and statistical properties of the X-ray absorber in AGNs. In particular, we review the distribution of the absorbing column density inferred from X-ray observations of various AGN samples. We discuss the…
This review describes recent developments related to the unified model of active galactic nuclei (AGN). It focuses on new ideas about the origin and properties of the central obscurer (torus), and the connection with its surrounding. The…
Using the 3XMM catalogue of serendipitous X-ray sources, and the SDSS-DR9 spectroscopic catalogue, we have obtained a new sample of X-ray selected narrow emission line galaxies. The standard optical diagnostic diagram and selection by hard…
Some recent results on the physical and statistical properties of nearby and distant AGN are presented. I first discuss the properties of "elusive" AGNs, i.e. obscured AGNs which do not show a Seyfert-like spectrum in the optical. Then I…
In accordance with the AGN Unified Model, observed polarization can be related to the orientation of the line of sight with respect to the torus. AGN X-ray emission arises from the central region and carries the imprints of the obscuring…
We present the distributions of geometrical covering factors of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) dusty tori (f2) using an X-ray selected complete sample of 227 AGN drawn from the Bright Ultra-hard XMM-Newton Survey. The AGN have z from 0.05 to…
We present the results of X-ray spectral analysis of 22 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with a small scattering fraction selected from the Second XMM-Newton Serendipitous Source Catalogue using hardness ratios. They are candidates of buried…
X-ray spectroscopy offers an opportunity to study the complex mixture of emitting and absorbing components in the circumnuclear regions of active galactic nuclei, and to learn about the accretion process that fuels AGN and the feedback of…
Intrinsic absorption is a fundamental physical property to understand the evolution of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Here a sample of 1290 AGN, selected in the 2-10 keV band from different flux-limited surveys with very high optical…
In this work we present the most comprehensive INTEGRAL AGN sample which lists 272 objects. Here we mainly use this sample to study the absorption properties of active galaxies, to probe new AGN classes and to test the AGN unification…
Unification Models of Active Galactic Nuclei postulate that all the observed differences between Type 1 and Type 2 objects are due to orientation effects with respect to the line-of-sight to the observer. The key ingredient of these models…
To provide insight into the apparent mismatch between the optical and X-ray absorption properties observed in 10-30 % of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), we have conducted a detailed study of two X-ray unabsorbed AGN with a type-2 optical…
The motivation of the "unified model" is to explain the main properties of the large zoo of active galactic nuclei with a single physical object. The discovery of broad permitted lines in the polarized spectrum of type 2 Seyfert galaxies in…
I review the constraints that X-ray observations impose on the physical properties and the geometrical distribution of cold absorbing gas in nearby obscured Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), as well as their implications for AGN structure…
Most Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are `obscured', i.e. the nucleus is hiding behind a screen of absorbing material. The advantage of having the nucleus obscured is to make easier the observations of those emission components which originate…
We propose a classification scheme for the circumnuclear medium of AGNs based on their location in the A_V - N_H plane (related to dust absorption and gas absorption, respectively). We present evidence that the A_V/N_H ratio is often lower…
We discuss the properties of a small sample of Seyfert 2 galaxies whose X-ray spectrum changed appearance on time scales of years, becoming reflection-dominated from Compton-thin, or viceversa. A reflection--dominated spectrum is usually…
A fraction of active galactic nuclei do not show the classical Seyfert-type signatures in their optical spectra, i.e. they are optically "elusive". X-ray observations are an optimal tool to identify this class of objects. We combine new…