Powerful obscured AGN in Chandra cluster fields

Abstract

Models for the origin of the hard X-ray background have suggested that sources with the most accretion activity lie hidden in highly obscured AGN. We report on our study of hard, serendipitous sources in the fields of Chandra clusters with fluxes close to the turn-over in the source-counts. These include two Type II quasars with measured X-ray luminosities >10^{45} ergs per second and column-densities >10^{23} cm^{-2}, one possibly being Compton-thick. Both show indications of redshifted Fe Kαline emission. Radiative transfer modelling of the broad-band spectrum of a highly-magnified source with deep ISOCAM detections implies the presence of warm-to-hot dust obscuring a quasar with L_{UV}>10^{45} ergs per second. Multi-wavelength spectroscopic and photometric follow-up of the optically-faint sources suggests that these objects are found in the centres of massive evolved galaxies at a range of redshifts, with red optical / near-infrared colours dominated by the host galaxy. Detailed source identification is difficult due to the paucity of strong emission features, especially in the infrared. We present the main results from a sample of near-infrared spectra of optically-faint sources obtained with 4 m and 8 m telescopes. Through the study of the harder and brighter X-ray background source population, we are likely to be viewing the most intense phase of the growth of supermassive black holes.