Spitzer Observations of High-Redshift QSOs
Abstract
We have observed 13 z ≥ 4.5 QSOs using the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer, nine of which were also observed with the Infrared Array Camera. The observations probe rest wavelengths ~0.6-4.3 μm, bracketing the local minimum in QSO spectral energy distributions (SEDs) between strong optical emission associated directly with accretion processes and thermal emission from hot dust heated by the central engine. The new Spitzer photometry combined with existing measurements at other wavelengths shows that the SEDs of high-redshift QSOs (z ≥ 4.5) do not differ significantly from typical QSOs of similar luminosity at lower redshifts (z ≾ 2). This behavior supports other indications that all the emission components and physical structures that characterize QSO activity can be established by z = 6.4. The similarity also suggests that some QSOs at high redshift will be very difficult to identify because they are viewed along dust-obscured sight lines.
Additional Information
© 2006 The American Astronomical Society. Received 2006 January 19; accepted 2006 March 10; published 2006 April 5. We thank D. Sanders and B. Wilkes for supplying electronic versions of the composite QSO SEDs from Sanders et al. (1989) and Elvis et al. (1994). We also thank M. Brotherton and B. Wills for comments that contributed significantly to the clarity of the manuscript. This publication makes use of data products from the Two Micron All Sky Survey, which is a joint project of the University of Massachusetts and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation. We have used the NED and SIMBAD databases. This work is based (in part) on observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under NASA contract 1407. Support was provided by NASA through contract 1255094 issued by JPL/Caltech.Attached Files
Published - Hines_2006_ApJ_641_L85.pdf
Submitted - 0604347.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 75520
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20170329-150142585
- NSF
- 1407
- NASA
- 1255094
- JPL/Caltech
- Created
-
2017-03-29Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2021-11-15Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC)