Related papers: The Compton-thick AGN in the GPS radio source OQ+2…
We report the discovery of a Compton-thick Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) at z=4.76 in the 4 Ms Chandra Deep Field South. This object was selected as a V-band dropout in HST/ACS images and previously recognized as an AGN from optical…
We present a broad-band X-ray spectral analysis of the radio-loud active galactic nuclei NGC 612, 4C 73.08 and 3C 452, exploiting archival data from NuSTAR, XMM-Newton, Swift and INTEGRAL. These Compton-thick candidates are the most…
3C 223 is a radio loud, Type 2 quasar at $z=0.1365$ with an intriguing XMM-Newton spectrum that implicated it as a rare, Compton-thick ($N_{\rm H} \gtrsim 1.25 \times 10^{24}$ cm$^{-2}$) active galactic nucleus (AGN). We obtained…
We report the XMM-Newton discovery of the first Compton-thick obscured AGN in a Broad Line Radio Galaxy, the Gigahertz Peaked-Spectrum source Mkn668 (OQ+208). The remarkably flat 2-10 keV X-ray spectrum (observed photon index, \Gamma ~…
I present a review of X-ray and mid-IR surveys for Compton-thick Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). These are the most highly obscured sources having hydrogen column densities >1.5x10^24 cm-2. Key surveys in the local Universe are presented…
X-ray surveys provide the most efficient means for the detection of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). However, they face difficulties in detecting the most heavily obscured Compton-thick AGN. The BAT detector on board the Gehrels/Swift mission,…
Heavily obscured accretion is believed to represent an important stage in the growth of supermassive black holes, and to play an important role in shaping the observed spectrum of the Cosmic X-ray Background (CXB). Hard X-ray (E$>$10 keV)…
The spectrum of the hard X-ray background records the history of accretion processes integrated over the cosmic time. Several pieces of observational and theoretical evidence indicate that a significant fraction of the energy density is…
Heavily obscured Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), especially Compton-thick sources with line-of-sight column density ($N_{\rm H,los}$) $>$ 10$^{24}$ cm$^{-2}$, are critical to understanding supermassive black hole (SMBH) growth and the origin…
We present the results from an X-ray spectral analysis of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the Chandra Deep Field-South, AEGIS-XD and Chandra-COSMOS surveys, focussing on the identification and characterisation of the most heavily obscured,…
We present the results of the broadband X-ray spectral analysis of simultaneous NuSTAR and XMM-Newton observations of four nearby Compton-thick active galactic nuclei (AGN) candidates selected from the Swift-Burst Alert Telescope (BAT)…
Using a suite of X-ray, mid-IR and optical active galactic nuclei (AGN) luminosity indicators, we search for Compton-thick (CT) AGNs with intrinsic L_X>10^42erg/s at z~0.03-0.2, a region of parameter space which is currently poorly…
By discovering a narrow-line emitter embedded in an extended Ly-alpha nebula, Husemann et al. (2018) found that the luminous radio-quiet quasar LBQS 0302-0019 is a dual active galactic nucleus (AGN) system. By combining available archival…
We present the X-ray analysis of the most luminous obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN) inside local ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). Our sample consists of ten sources, harbouring AGN components with estimated luminosity in…
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…
We present NuSTAR observations of the powerful radio galaxy Cygnus A, focusing on the central absorbed active galactic nucleus (AGN). Cygnus A is embedded in a cool-core galaxy cluster, and hence we also examine archival XMM-Newton data to…
Hard X-ray surveys are an important tool for the study of active galactic nuclei (AGN): they provide almost an unbiased view of absorption in the extragalactic population, allow the study of spectral features such as reflection and high…
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…
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) can be probed by at different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum: e.g., radio observations reveal the nature of their relativistic jets and their magnetic fields, and complementarily, X-ray observations…
Using long-term monitoring data from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), we have selected 23 active galactic nuclei (AGN) with sufficient brightness and overall observation time to derive broadband X-ray spectra from 3 to >100 keV. Our…