Obscured AGN at z < 1.5: X-Ray to Far-infrared SEDs and Host Galaxy Morphologies in the GOODS Fields

Abstract We present an analysis of spectral energy distributions (SEDs), galaxy light profiles, and visual morphological classifications for 194 X-ray luminous active galactic nuclei (AGN) (intrinsic absorption-corrected log ( L X , 0.5 − 7 keV ) > 42.5 ( maximum 45.2 ) erg s − 1 ) with z < 1.5 in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) fields. We generate X-ray to far-infrared SEDs normalized at 1 μ m for all AGN and sort them according to their emission slopes in the ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR). We visually classify their host galaxies’ morphologies and compute their bulge/total light ratios using the Galaxy Shapes of Light ( galight ) software. Most (94%) GOODS AGN exhibit obscured (i.e., diminished UV and/or mid-IR emission) SEDs. Only 6% show unobscured, quasar-like SEDs. Secular processes appear to play a large role in stimulating AGN emission, since only ∼1/3 of galaxies are undergoing interactions. We also describe the morphological identification of a population of suspected postmerger spheroid galaxies with obscured UV/IR SEDs and distinguish them from the host galaxies of AGN with less obscuration in the UV or IR.