Spectroscopic and Variability Surveys for AGN in the Groth Survey Strip

Abstract

Preliminary results are presented for a spectroscopic survey of the Groth Survey Strip (GSS), a 40 by 3.5 arcminute region of the sky imaged with HST, for which several hundred galaxy spectra have been obtained as part of the DEEP project (http://deep.ucolick.org). At least 6 broad-line AGNs (primarily Seyfert 1s) have been detected as well as several narrow-line Seyfert 2 candidates. The Seyfert galaxies detected in our survey have integrated absolute magnitudes extending to M(B)~-17.5, probing fainter magnitudes and higher redshifts than existing optical spectroscopic surveys. We also discuss a variability study of the GSS using the original HST images from 1994 and new images obtained in 2001. The high resolution obtained with HST allows us to isolate and measure variable galactic nuclei too faint to be detected from the ground, reaching nuclear magnitudes of M(B)~-16 in galaxies to z=0.8. The combination of these techniques provides a powerful probe of the population of low-luminosity AGNs at moderate redshifts.