X-ray redshifts with the International X-ray Observatory (IXO) |
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Authors: | N Castelló-Mor X Barcons L Ballo |
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Institution: | Instituto de Física de Cantabria, CSIC-Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. de los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain |
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Abstract: | We explore the capabilities of the future space science mission IXO (International X-ray Observatory) for obtaining cosmological redshifts of distant Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) using the X-ray data only. We first find in which regions of the X-ray luminosity (LX) versus redshift (z) plane the weak but ubiquitous Fe Kα narrow emission line can deliver an accurate redshift (δz < 5%) as a function of exposure time, using a CCD-based Wide Field Imager (IXO/WFI) as the one baselined for IXO. Down to a 2–10 keV X-ray flux of 10−14 erg cm−2 s−1 IXO/WFI exposures of 100 ks, 300 ks and 1 Ms will deliver 20%, 40% and 60% of the redshifts. This means that in a typical 18′ × 18′ IXO/WFI field of view, 4, 10 and 25 redshifts will be obtained for free from the X-ray data alone, spanning a wide range up to z ∼ 2–3 and fairly sampling the real distribution. Measuring redshifts of fainter sources will indeed need spectroscopy at other wavebands. |
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Keywords: | Galaxies: active X-rays: redshift X-rays: general IXO |
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