A survey of AGN and supermassive black holes in the COSMOS Survey

摘要

The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) is an HST/ACS imaging survey of 2 square degrees centered on RA = 10:00:28.6, Dec = +02:12:21 (J2000). While the primary goal of the survey is to study evolution of galaxy morphology and large scale structure, an extensive multi-wavelength data set allows for a sensitive survey of AGN. Spectroscopy of optical counterparts to faint X-ray and radio sources is being carried out with the Magallen (Baade) Telescope and the ESO VLT. By achieving ~80% redshift completeness down to IAB = 23, the eventual yield of AGN will be ~1100 over the whole field. Early results on supermassive black holes are described. The goals of the survey include a bolometric census of AGN down to moderate luminosities, the cosmic evolution and fueling history of the central engines, and a study of AGN environments on scales ranging from the host galaxy to clusters and superclusters