Spectral Energy Distributions and Multiwavelength Selection of Type 1 Quasars

We present an analysis of the mid-infrared (MIR) and optical properties of type 1 (broad-line) quasars detected by the Spitzer Space Telescope. The MIR color-redshift relation is characterized to z $ 3, with predictions to z 7. We demonstrate how combining MIR and optical colors can yield even more efficient selection of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) than MIR or optical colors alone. Composite spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are constructed for 259 quasars with both Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Spitzer photometry, supplemented by near-IR, GALEX, VLA, and ROSAT data, where available. We discuss how the spectral diversity of quasars influences the determination of bolometric luminosities and accretion…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Award: 0307384
• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy
• NA
  National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• AP
  Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
• PU
  Princeton University
• OS
  Ohio State University
• CI
  California Institute of Technology
• UO
  University of Washington
• JH
  Johns Hopkins University
• UO
  University of Pittsburgh
• CW
  Case Western Reserve University
• DU
  Drexel University
• UB
  Universität Basel
• UO
  University of Portsmouth
• NM
  New Mexico State University
• UO
  University of Cambridge
• CA
  Chinese Academy of Sciences
• M
  Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
• MF
  Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie
• JP
  Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• UN
  U.S. Naval Observatory
• F
  Fermilab
• LA
  Los Alamos National Laboratory