Tripling the Census of Dwarf AGN Candidates Using DESI Early Data
Abstract Using early data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey, we search for active galactic nuclei (AGN) signatures in 410,757 line-emitting galaxies. By employing the BPT emission-line ratio diagnostic diagram, we identify AGNs in 75,928/296,261 (≈25.6%) high-mass ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mi>log</mml:mi> <mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mo>⋆</mml:mo> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:msub> <mml:mo stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:mo>></mml:mo> </mml:math> 9.5) and 2444/114,496 (≈2.1%) dwarf ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mi>log</mml:mi> <mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mo>⋆</mml:mo> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:msub> <mml:mo stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:mo>≤</mml:mo> </mml:math> 9.5) galaxies. Of these AGN candidates, 4181 sources exhibit a broad H α component, allowing us to estimate their BH masses via virial techniques. This study more than triples the census of dwarf AGNs and doubles the number of intermediate-mass black hole ( M BH ≤ 10 6 M ⊙ ) candidates, spanning a broad discovery space in stellar mass (7 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mo><</mml:mo> <mml:mi>log</mml:mi> <mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mo>⋆</mml:mo> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:msub> <mml:mo stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:mo><</mml:mo> </mml:math> 12) and redshift (0.001 < z < 0.45). The observed AGN fraction in dwarf galaxies (≈2.1%) is nearly four times higher than prior estimates, primarily due to DESI’s smaller fiber size, which enables the detection of lower-luminosity dwarf AGN candidates. We also extend the M BH – M ⋆ scaling relation down to <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">log</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>⋆</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:mo>≈</mml:mo> </mml:math> 8.5 and <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mi>log</mml:mi> <mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mi>BH</mml:mi> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:msub> <mml:mo stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:mo>≈</mml:mo> </mml:math> 4.4, with our results aligning well with previous low-redshift studies. The large statistical sample of dwarf AGN candidates from current and future DESI releases will be invaluable for enhancing our understanding of galaxy evolution at the low-mass end of the galaxy mass function.
Authors
- R. Canning
- Yao-Yuan Mao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1200-0820)
- Viraj Manwadkar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7113-0262)
- Paul Martini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4279-4182)
- A. Lambert
- D. Schlegel
- S. Juneau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0000-2394)
- Chiara Circosta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8522-9434)
- Gregory Tarlé (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1704-0781)
- Andreu Font-Ribera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3033-7312)
- Kevin Hainline (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4565-8239)
- Laurent Le Guillou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7178-8868)
- David Sprayberry (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7583-6441)
- M. Schubnell
- D. Bianchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9712-0006)
- Axel de la Macorra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1769-1640)
- Martin Landriau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1838-8528)
- J. Aguilar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0822-452X)
- Eusebio Sanchez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9646-8198)
- Satya Gontcho A Gontcho (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3142-233X)
- S. BenZvi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5537-4710)
- M. Siudek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2949-2155)
- Arjun T. Dey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4928-4003)
- D. Brooks (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8458-5047)
- J. E. Forero-Romero (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2890-3725)
- Steven P. Ahlen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6098-7247)
- R. Alfarsy
- Mar Mezcua (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4440-259X)
- B. A. Weaver
- Aaron Meisner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1125-7384)
- Sergey E. Koposov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2644-135X)
- Raphael E. Hviding (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4684-9005)
- K. Dawson
- Biprateep Dey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5665-7912)
- Ragadeepika Pucha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4940-3009)
- D. M. Alexander (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5896-6313)
- G. Gutiérrez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0825-0517)
- John Moustakas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2733-4559)
- Wei-Jian Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9457-0589)
- Hee‐Jong Seo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6588-3508)
- R. Miquel
- Hu Zou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6684-3997)
- P. Doel
- E. Gaztañaga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9632-0815)
- K. Honscheid
- T. Claybaugh
- F. Prada (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7145-8674)
- R. Kehoe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6024-466X)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Published
- 2025-03-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb1dd
- Citations
- 21
- Primary Topic
- Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 24.25
Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy