The Distribution of AGN Covering Factors

Andy Lawrence, Isaac Roseboom, Jack Mayo, Martin Elvis, Yue Shen, Heng Hao, Sara Petty

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

We review our knowledge of the most basic properties of the AGN obscuring region - its location, scale, symmetry, and mean covering factor - and discuss new evidence on the distribution of covering factors in a sample of ~9000 quasars with WISE, UKIDSS, and SDSS photometry. The obscuring regions of AGN may be in some ways more complex than we thought - multi-scale, not symmetric, chaotic - and in some ways simpler - with no dependence on luminosity, and a covering factor distribution that may be determined by the simplest of considerations - e.g. random misalignments.
Original languageEnglish
Pages219
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2013
EventTorus Workshop 2012 - San Antonio, Texas, United Kingdom
Duration: 5 Dec 20127 Dec 2012

Workshop

WorkshopTorus Workshop 2012
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CitySan Antonio, Texas
Period5/12/127/12/12

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Astrophysics - Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics

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