Will's Astronomy

Obscured AGN at z < 1.5: X-ray to Far-infrared SEDs and Host Galaxy Morphologies in the GOODS Fields

Jarvis, W.; Auge, C.; Sanders, S., Ding, X,; Kim-Bolt, J.; Urry, M.; Hooper, E.; Peca, A.; Ghosh, A.; Tian, C.; Ananna, T.; Mahmudunnobe, M.

Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal (ApJ), Jan. 29, 2026

We present an analysis of spectral energy distributions (SEDs), galaxy light profiles, and vi- sual morphological classifications for 194 X-ray luminous AGN (intrinsic absorption-corrected log(LX,0.5−7 keV) > 42.5 (maximum 45.2) erg s−1) with z < 1.5 in the GOODS fields. We gener- ate X-ray to far-infrared SEDs normalized at 1 μm for all AGN and sort them according to their emission slopes in the ultraviolet and infrared. We visually classify their host galaxies’ morphologies and compute their bulge/total light ratios using the software Galaxy Shapes of Light (galight). Most (94%) GOODS AGN exhibit obscured (i.e. diminished UV and/or MIR emission) SEDs. Only 6% show unobscured, quasar-like SEDs. Secular processes appear to play a large role in stimulating AGN emission, as only ∼ 1/3 of galaxies are undergoing interactions. We also describe the morphological identification of a population of suspected post-merger spheroid galaxies with obscured UV/IR SEDs and distinguish them from the host galaxies of AGN with less obscuration in the UV or IR.