The NuSTAR Serendipitous Survey: Hunting for the Most Extreme Obscured AGN at >10 keV

Abstract

We identify sources with extremely hard X-ray spectra (I.e., with photon indices of {{Γ }}≲ 0.6) in the 13 deg<SUP>2</SUP> NuSTAR serendipitous survey, to search for the most highly obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) detected at > 10 {keV}. Eight extreme NuSTAR sources are identified, and we use the NuSTAR data in combination with lower-energy X-ray observations (from Chandra, Swift XRT, and XMM-Newton) to characterize the broadband (0.5-24 keV) X-ray spectra. We find that all of the extreme sources are highly obscured AGNs, including three robust Compton-thick (CT; {N}<SUB>{{H</SUB>}}> 1.5× {10}<SUP>24</SUP> cm<SUP>-2</SUP>) AGNs at low redshift (z< 0.1) and a likely CT AGN at higher redshift (z = 0.16). Most of the extreme sources would not have been identified as highly obscured based on the low-energy (< 10 keV) X-ray coverage alone. The multiwavelength properties (e.g., optical spectra and X-ray-mid-IR luminosity ratios) provide further support for the eight sources being significantly obscured. Correcting for absorption, the intrinsic rest-frame 10-40 keV luminosities of the extreme sources cover a broad range, from ≈ 5× {10}<SUP>42</SUP> to 10<SUP>45</SUP> erg s<SUP>-1</SUP>. The estimated number counts of CT AGNs in the NuSTAR serendipitous survey are in broad agreement with model expectations based on previous X-ray surveys, except for the lowest redshifts (z< 0.07), where we measure a high CT fraction of {f}<SUB>{CT</SUB>}<SUP>{obs</SUP>}={30}<SUB>-12</SUB><SUP>+16</SUP> % . For the small sample of CT AGNs, we find a high fraction of galaxy major mergers (50% ± 33%) compared to control samples of “normal” AGNs.