XMM‐NewtonObservations of Red AGNs

XMM-Newton spectra of five red, 2MASS AGN, selected from a sample observed byChandra to be relatively X-ray bright and to cover a range of hardness ratios,confirm the presence of substantial absorbing material in three sources withoptical classifications ranging from Type 1 to Type 2. A flat (hard), power lawcontinuum is observed in the other two. The combination of X-ray absorption andbroad optical emission lines suggests either a small (nuclear) absorber or afavored viewing angle so as to cover the X-ray source but not the broademission line region (BELR). A soft excess is detected in all three Type 1sources. We speculate that this may arise in an extended region of ionised gas,perhaps linked with the polarised (scattered) optical light present in thesesources. The spectral complexity revealed by XMM-Newton emphasizes thelimitations of the low S/N \chandra data. The new results strengthen ourearlier conclusions that the observed X-ray continua of red AGN are unusuallyhard at energies >2 keV. Their observed spectra are consistent withcontributing significantly to the missing hard/absorbed population of theCosmic X-ray Background (CXRB) although their intrinsic power law slopes aretypical of broad-line (Type 1) AGN (Gamma ~1.7-1.9). This suggests that themissing X-ray-absorbed CXRB population may include Type 1 AGN/QSOs in additionto the Type 2 AGN generally assumed.Comment: 29 page