Probing the Limits of Nuclear Activity in COSMOS

University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

This research program will use the multiwavelength data on the COSMOS field to select Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) with a wide range of optical and IR properties. Multi-object spectroscopy with Magellan/IMACS will be used to spectroscopically confirm ~3000 AGNs, reaching the classical Seyfert/quasar boundary at a redshift of 3 and including about 300 quasars with redshift > 3. The deep multiwavelength observations will allow studies of the total AGN energy density in the universe, including a bolometric luminosity function for obscured AGN to redshift ~1 and Type 1 AGN to redshfit ~4. Time domain data will be used to measure reverberation between the continuum and the lines.