J/A+A/700/A111 Morphologies of hard X-ray selected AGN (Parra Tello+, 2025)
BASS XLIV: Morphological preferences of local hard X-ray selected AGNs.
Parra Tello M., Bauer F.E., De Cicco D., Doll G., Koss M., Treister E.,
Finlez C., Troncoso M., Auge C., del Moral-Castro I., Chung A., Gupta K.K.,
Kim J., Oh K., Ricci C., Ricci F., Rojas A., Caglar T., Harrison F.,
Powell M.C., Stern D., Trakhtenbrot B., Urry C.M.
<RAstron. Astrophys. 700, A111 (2025)>
=2025A&A...700A.111P 2025A&A...700A.111P
ADC_Keywords: Active gal. nuclei ; X-ray sources
Keywords: galaxies: active - galaxies: evolution - galaxies: nuclei
Abstract:
We present detailed morphological classifications for the hosts of
1189 hard- X-ray-selected (14-195keV) active galactic nuclei (AGN)
from the Swift-BAT 105-month catalog as part of the BAT AGN
Spectroscopic Survey (BASS). BASS provides a powerful all-sky census
of nearby AGN, minimizing obscuration biases and providing a robust
dataset for studying AGN-host galaxy connections. Classifications are
based on a volunteer-based visual inspection workflow on the
Zooniverse platform, adapted from the Galaxy Zoo DECaLS (GZD) project.
Dual-contrast grz color composite images, generated from public
surveys (e.g., NOAO Legacy Survey, Pan-STARRS, SDSS) and dedicated
observations, enabled the identification of key morphological
features. Our analysis reveals that, with respect to a control sample
of inactive galaxies, BASS AGN hosts show a deficiency of smooth
elliptical galaxies (∼70%) and spiral galaxies with prominent arms
(∼80%), while displaying an excess of mergers or disturbed systems
(∼400%), and disk galaxies without spiral structure (∼300%). These
trends are found after controlling for redshift and i-band magnitude,
suggesting a preference for AGN activity in gas-rich, dynamically
disturbed environments or transitional disk systems. We also find a
higher bar fraction among AGN hosts than in a control sample (∼50% vs.
∼30%). We further explore the relationships between AGN properties
(e.g., X-ray luminosity, black hole mass, and Eddington ratio) and
host morphology, finding that high-luminosity and high-accretion AGN
preferentially reside in smooth or point-like hosts. At the same time,
lower-luminosity AGN are more common in disk galaxies. These results
underscore the importance of morphological studies in understanding
the fueling and feedback mechanisms driving AGN activity and their
role in galaxy evolution. Our dataset provides a valuable benchmark
for future multi-wavelength surveys (e.g. LSST, Roman, and Euclid) and
automated morphological classification efforts.
Description:
Contains visual morphological classifications for a total of 1189 Hard
X-ray selected AGN, as part of the Swift-BAT 105-month catalog. The
assessment of features was performed by volunteers in the Zooniverse
platform, which were then processed into an assortment of visual
classifications as well as reclassifications with more generous
definitions. For each galaxy, the BAT ID, Swift name, Counterpart
name, Main classification and Reclassification are given. Bar strength
is given only for galaxies whose main classification or
reclassification is Disk spiral or Disk no spiral.
File Summary:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
table4.dat 114 1189 Visual morphological classifications of
1189 hard X-ray selected AGN
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See also:
J/ApJS/235/4 : The 105-month Swift-BAT all-sky hard X-ray survey (Oh+, 2018)
J/ApJS/261/2 : BASS. XXII. The Swift/BAT AGN Sp. Survey DR2 cat. (Koss+, 2022)
http://www.bass-survey.com/ : The BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey home page
Byte-by-byte Description of file: table4.dat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- 4 I4 --- BAT [1/1632] Swift-BAT survey ID (BAT_ID)
6- 23 A18 --- Swift Swift-BAT identifier (JHHMM.m+DDMMA or
JHHMMSS.s+DDMMSS) (SWIFT_NAME)
25- 53 A29 --- ctpName Counterpart source name (COUNTERPART_NAME)
55- 79 A25 --- MainClass Original visual classification (MAIN_CLASS)
81-105 A25 --- reClass Same as MAIN_CLASS, except that Point-like
and Other/Uncertain sources were
reclassified with more lenient criteria
(RECLASS)
107-114 A8 --- barStrength ? Strength of the galactic bar structure
(BAR_STRENGTH) (1)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note (1): Only for galaxies whose MAIN_CLASS or RECLASS is Disk spiral or Disk
no spiral (Strong, Unbarred or Weak)..
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acknowledgements:
Miguel Parra Tello, mgparra(at)uc.cl
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(End) Patricia Vannier [CDS] 19-Jun-2025