| Title: |
Obscuration beyond the nucleus: infrared quasars can be buried in extreme compact starbursts |
| Authors: |
Andonie C.; Alexander D. M.; Greenwell C.; Puglisi A.; Laloux B.; Alonso-Tetilla A. V.; Rivera G. C.; Harrison C.; Hickox R. C.; Kaasinen M.; Lapi A.; Lopez I. E.; Petter G.; Almeida C. R.; Rosario D. J.; Shankar F.; Villforth C. |
| Contributors: |
Andonie, C.; Alexander, D. M.; Greenwell, C.; Puglisi, A.; Laloux, B.; Alonso-Tetilla, A. V.; Rivera, G. C.; Harrison, C.; Hickox, R. C.; Kaasinen, M.; Lapi, A.; Lopez, I. E.; Petter, G.; Almeida, C. R.; Rosario, D. J.; Shankar, F.; Villforth, C. |
| Publication Year: |
2024 |
| Collection: |
International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Trieste: SISSA Digital Library (SDL) |
| Subject Terms: |
quasars: general –galaxies: starburst –submillimetre: galaxies; Settore FIS/05 - Astronomia e Astrofisica |
| Description: |
In the standard quasar model, the accretion disc obscuration is due to the canonical dusty torus. Here, we argue that a substantial part of the quasar obscuration can come from the interstellar medium (ISM) when the quasars are embedded in compact starbursts. We use an obscuration-unbiased sample of 578 infrared (IR) quasars at z ≈1–3 and archi v al Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array submillimetre host galaxy sizes to investigate the ISM contribution to the quasar obscuration. We calculate star formation rates (SFR) and ISM column densities for the IR quasars and a control sample of submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) not hosting quasar activity and show that: (1) the quasar obscured fraction is constant up to SFR ≈300 M yr −1 , and then increases towards higher SFR, suggesting that the ISM obscuration plays a significant role in starburst host galaxies, and (2) at SFR 300 M yr −1 , the SMGs and IR quasars have similarly compact submillimetre sizes ( R e ≈0 . 5 –3 kpc ) and consequently, the ISM can heavily obscure the quasar, even reaching Compton-thick ( N H > 10 24 cm −2 ) levels in extreme cases. Based on our results, we infer that ≈10 –30 per cent of the IR quasars with SFR 300 M yr −1 are obscured solely by the ISM. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
unknown |
| Relation: |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:001594527500015; volume:527; issue:1; firstpage:144; lastpage:150; numberofpages:7; journal:MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. LETTERS; https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11767/135157; https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.02330 |
| DOI: |
10.1093/mnrasl/slad144 |
| Availability: |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11767/135157; https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slad144; https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.02330 |
| Rights: |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess ; license:Creative commons ; license uri:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.121C618B |
| Database: |
BASE |