A population of extreme mid-to-near-infrared sources: Obscured AGN and dusty starbursts

¹ Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK e-mail: phjohans@ast.cam.ac.uk
² Observatory, PO Box 14, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland
³ European Southern Observatory, Casilla 19001, Santiago, Chile
⁴ Departamento de Astronomía, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 36-D, Santiago, Chile
⁵ Astrophysics Group, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2AZ, UK

Received: 10 May 2004
Accepted: 9 August 2004

Abstract

We present a sample of mid-infrared detected sources from the European Large Area ISO Survey (ELAIS) regions characterised by strong mid-IR radiation with faint near-IR and optical counterparts. These extreme mid-to-near-IR objects (EMNOs) are defined here by a flux ratio of . This population is not obvious in deeper small area ISO surveys, though it produces more than 20% of the observed cosmic IR background radiation (CIRB) at 15m above 1 mJy. Near-future large area deep mid-IR surveys with the Spitzer Space Telescope, however, are bound to uncover large amounts of these objects, which we argue to most likely be obscured AGNs, based on SED shapes and X-ray data. Very strong dusty starbursts at may also have high mid-to-near-IR flux ratios, but using the MIR/NIR and FIR/MIR ratios these may be separated. Most of our EMNOs appear to be ULIRGs, half are also extremely red objects (ERO). A curious case of a low redshift, less luminous object with a very young stellar population is also found. We predict that the simple broad band selection method makes EMNOs a useful window into high-redshift obscured nuclear activity and its sought after relation to star-formation, in a similar way that EROs have been used to define samples of high-redshift early type galaxies.