MIDIS: Quantifying the active galactic nucleus component of X-ray-detected galaxies

Steven Gillman; John P. Pye; Almudena Alonso-Herrero; Martin J. Ward; Leindert Boogaard; Tuomo V. Tikkanen; Luis Colina; Göran Östlin; Pablo G. Pérez-González; Luca Costantin; Edoardo Iani; Pierluigi Rinaldi; Javier Álvarez-Márquez; Arjan Bik; Sarah E.I. Bosman; Alejandro Crespo Gómez; Andreas Eckart; Macarena García-Marín; Thomas R. Greve; Jens Hjorth; A. Labiano; Danial Langeroodi; Jens Melinder; Florian Peißker; Fabian Walter; Manuel Güdel; Thomas Henning; Pierre Olivier Lagage; Thomas P. Ray

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202553779

MIDIS: Quantifying the active galactic nucleus component of X-ray-detected galaxies

Steven Gillman
, John P. Pye
, Almudena Alonso-Herrero
, Martin J. Ward
, Leindert Boogaard
, Tuomo V. Tikkanen
, Luis Colina
, Göran Östlin
, Pablo G. Pérez-González
, Luca Costantin
, Edoardo Iani
, Pierluigi Rinaldi
, Javier Álvarez-Márquez
, Arjan Bik
, Sarah E.I. Bosman
, Alejandro Crespo Gómez
, Andreas Eckart
, Macarena García-Marín
, Thomas R. Greve
, Jens Hjorth

A. Labiano, Danial Langeroodi, Jens Melinder, Florian Peißker, Fabian Walter, Manuel Güdel, Thomas Henning, Pierre Olivier Lagage, Thomas P. Ray

Department of Astrophysics

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Abstract

X-ray and infrared surveys provide efficient, and to some degree complementary, means of detecting and characterising active galactic nuclei (AGNs), with the infrared also providing an important probe of the host galaxies. To this end we combine the deepest X-ray survey from the Chandra Deep Field-South (CDF-S) ‘7-Ms’ survey with the deepest mid-infrared (5.6 μm) image from the JWST/MIRI Deep Imaging Survey (MIDIS) in the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (HUDF) to study the infrared counterparts and point-source emission of 31 X-ray sources with a median, intrinsic, rest-frame X-ray luminosity of log₁₀(L _Xc^0.5−7keV) = 42.04 ± 0.22 erg s⁻¹. The sample includes 24 AGNs with a redshift range, set by the X-ray detectability, of z ≃ 0.5−3, with the bulk of the sources lying at z ≃ 1−2, i.e. around the epoch of cosmic noon. Through a multi-wavelength morphological decomposition, employing three separate classifications (visual, parametric, and non-parametric), we separate (where present) the luminosity of the point-like AGN component from the remainder of the host-galaxy emission. The unprecedented mid-infrared sensitivity and imaging resolution of MIRI allows, in many cases, for the direct characterisation of point-like (i.e. unresolved) components in the galaxies’ emission. We establish a broad agreement between the three morphological classifications. At least 70% of the X-ray sources, including some classified as galaxies, show unresolved emission in the MIRI images, with the unresolved-to-total flux fraction at rest-frame 2 μm ranging from ∼0.2 to ∼0.9. At high X-ray luminosities (log₁₀(L _Xc) > 43 erg s⁻¹), we derive a consistent rest-frame near-infrared 2 μm point-source luminosity to that derived for local AGNs, whilst at lower X-ray luminosities we identify an excess in the 2 μm emission compared to pre-JWST studies. We speculate that this offset may be driven by a combination of Compton-thick AGN components and nuclear starburst, merger-driven activity. Our observations highlight the complex nature of X-ray sources in the distant Universe and demonstrate the power of JWST/MIRI in quantifying their nuclear infrared emission.

Original language	English
Article number	A100
Number of pages	16
Journal	Astronomy and Astrophysics
Volume	704
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202553779
Publication status	Published - 3 Dec 2025

Funding

The observations analysed in this work are made with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (DOI: 10.17909/z7p0-8481). SG acknowledges financial support from the Villum Young Investigator grants 37440 and 13160 and the Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), funded by the Dan- ish National Research Foundation (DNRF) under grant No. 140. JPP and TVT acknowledge financial support from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council, and the UK Space Agency. JH and DL were supported by research grants (VIL16599, VIL54489) from VILLUM FONDEN. AE and FP acknowl- edge support through the German Space Agency DLR 50OS1501 and DLR 50OS2001 from 2015 to 2023. AAH acknowledges support from grant PID2021- 124665NB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF ‘A way of making Europe’. ACG acknowledges support by grant PIB2021- 127718NB-100 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation/State Agency of Research MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, and by JWST con- tract B0215/JWST-GO-02926. JAM acknowledges support by grant PIB2021- 127718NB-100 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF ‘A way of making Europe’. GÖ, AB and JM acknowledge support from the Swedish National Space Administration (SNSA). SEIB is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under Emmy Noether grant number BO 5771/1-1. PGP-G acknowledges support from grant PID2022-139567NB- I00 funded by Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, and the European Union FEDER pro- gram Una manera de hacer Europa. Cloud-based data processing and file storage for this work are provided by the AWS Cloud Credits for Research program. The data products presented herein were retrieved from the Dawn JWST Archive (DJA). DJA is an initiative of the Cosmic Dawn Center, which is funded by the Danish National Research Foundation under grant No. 140. This research has made use of the SIMBAD database, the VizieR catalogue access tool, and the Aladin sky atlas, developed by and oper- ated at CDS, Strasbourg, France. This research has made use of the Astro- physics Data System (ADS), funded by NASA under Cooperative Agreement 80NSSC21M00561. This work made use of the following facilities: ALMA, Chandra, HST, JWST, XMM-Newton This work made use of the follow- ing open-source software: DS9 (https://ds9.si.edu/doc/user/index. html), jwst science calibration pipeline (https://jwst-docs.stsci.edu/ jwst-science-calibration-pipeline#gsc.tab=0), cds [aladin, simbad, vizier] (https://cds.unistra.fr/), ads (https://ui.adsabs.harvard. edu/), Astropy (Astropy Collaboration 2013), Photutils (Bradley et al. 2022), Source Extractor (Bertin & Arnouts 1996), SEP (Barbary et al. 2016), Eazy- py (Brammer & Matharu 2021), GriZli (Brammer et al. 2022), GalfitM (Häußler et al. 2013), Statmorph (Rodriguez-Gomez et al. 2019), Topcat (Taylor 2005), STILTS (Taylor 2006), the farmer (Weaver et al. 2023), WebbPSF (Perrin et al. 2014). The observations analysed in this work are made with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (DOI: 10.17909/z7p0-8481 ). SG acknowledges financial support from the Villum Young Investigator grants 37440 and 13160 and the Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), funded by the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF) under grant No. 140. JPP and TVT acknowledge financial support from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council, and the UK Space Agency. JH and DL were supported by research grants (VIL16599, VIL54489) from VILLUM FONDEN. AE and FP acknowledge support through the German Space Agency DLR 50OS1501 and DLR 50OS2001 from 2015 to 2023. AAH acknowledges support from grant PID2021-124665NB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF ‘A way of making Europe’. ACG acknowledges support by grant PIB2021-127718NB-100 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation/State Agency of Research MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, and by JWST contract B0215/JWST-GO-02926. JAM acknowledges support by grant PIB2021-127718NB-100 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF ‘A way of making Europe’. GÖ, AB and JM acknowledge support from the Swedish National Space Administration (SNSA). SEIB is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under Emmy Noether grant number BO 5771/1-1. PGP-G acknowledges support from grant PID2022-139567NB-I00 funded by Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, and the European Union FEDER program Una manera de hacer Europa. Cloud-based data processing and file storage for this work are provided by the AWS Cloud Credits for Research program. The data products presented herein were retrieved from the Dawn JWST Archive (DJA). DJA is an initiative of the Cosmic Dawn Center, which is funded by the Danish National Research Foundation under grant No. 140. This research has made use of the SIMBAD database, the VizieR catalogue access tool, and the Aladin sky atlas, developed by and operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France. This research has made use of the Astrophysics Data System (ADS), funded by NASA under Cooperative Agreement 80NSSC21M00561. This work made use of the following facilities: ALMA, Chandra, HST, JWST, XMM-Newton This work made use of the following open-source software: DS9 ( https://ds9.si.edu/doc/user/index.html ), jwst science calibration pipeline ( https://jwst-docs.stsci.edu/jwst-science-calibration-pipeline#gsc.tab=0 ), cds [aladin, simbad, vizier] ( https://cds.unistra.fr/ ), ads ( https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/ ), Astropy (Astropy Collaboration 2013), Photutils (Bradley et al. 2022), Source Extractor (Bertin & Arnouts 1996), SEP (Barbary et al. 2016), Eazy-py (Brammer & Matharu 2021), GriZli (Brammer et al. 2022), GalfitM (Häußler et al. 2013), Statmorph (Rodriguez-Gomez et al. 2019), Topcat (Taylor 2005), STILTS (Taylor 2006), THE FARMER (Weaver et al. 2023), WebbPSF (Perrin et al. 2014).

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

103003 Astronomy
103004 Astrophysics

Keywords

galaxies: active
galaxies: high-redshift
galaxies: structure
X-rays: galaxies

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10.1051/0004-6361/202553779Licence: CC BY 4.0

Cite this

Gillman, S., Pye, J. P., Alonso-Herrero, A., Ward, M. J., Boogaard, L., Tikkanen, T. V., Colina, L., Östlin, G., Pérez-González, P. G., Costantin, L., Iani, E., Rinaldi, P., Álvarez-Márquez, J., Bik, A., Bosman, S. E. I., Crespo Gómez, A., Eckart, A., García-Marín, M., Greve, T. R., ... Ray, T. P. (2025). MIDIS: Quantifying the active galactic nucleus component of X-ray-detected galaxies. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 704, Article A100. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202553779

@article{69d2ec9024f74bd1ab0562b78b66ea61,

title = "MIDIS: Quantifying the active galactic nucleus component of X-ray-detected galaxies",

abstract = "X-ray and infrared surveys provide efficient, and to some degree complementary, means of detecting and characterising active galactic nuclei (AGNs), with the infrared also providing an important probe of the host galaxies. To this end we combine the deepest X-ray survey from the Chandra Deep Field-South (CDF-S) {\textquoteleft}7-Ms{\textquoteright} survey with the deepest mid-infrared (5.6 μm) image from the JWST/MIRI Deep Imaging Survey (MIDIS) in the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (HUDF) to study the infrared counterparts and point-source emission of 31 X-ray sources with a median, intrinsic, rest-frame X-ray luminosity of log10(L Xc0.5−7keV) = 42.04 ± 0.22 erg s−1. The sample includes 24 AGNs with a redshift range, set by the X-ray detectability, of z ≃ 0.5−3, with the bulk of the sources lying at z ≃ 1−2, i.e. around the epoch of cosmic noon. Through a multi-wavelength morphological decomposition, employing three separate classifications (visual, parametric, and non-parametric), we separate (where present) the luminosity of the point-like AGN component from the remainder of the host-galaxy emission. The unprecedented mid-infrared sensitivity and imaging resolution of MIRI allows, in many cases, for the direct characterisation of point-like (i.e. unresolved) components in the galaxies{\textquoteright} emission. We establish a broad agreement between the three morphological classifications. At least 70\% of the X-ray sources, including some classified as galaxies, show unresolved emission in the MIRI images, with the unresolved-to-total flux fraction at rest-frame 2 μm ranging from ∼0.2 to ∼0.9. At high X-ray luminosities (log10(L Xc) > 43 erg s−1), we derive a consistent rest-frame near-infrared 2 μm point-source luminosity to that derived for local AGNs, whilst at lower X-ray luminosities we identify an excess in the 2 μm emission compared to pre-JWST studies. We speculate that this offset may be driven by a combination of Compton-thick AGN components and nuclear starburst, merger-driven activity. Our observations highlight the complex nature of X-ray sources in the distant Universe and demonstrate the power of JWST/MIRI in quantifying their nuclear infrared emission.",

keywords = "galaxies: active, galaxies: high-redshift, galaxies: structure, X-rays: galaxies",

author = "Steven Gillman and Pye, \{John P.\} and Almudena Alonso-Herrero and Ward, \{Martin J.\} and Leindert Boogaard and Tikkanen, \{Tuomo V.\} and Luis Colina and G{\"o}ran {\"O}stlin and P{\'e}rez-Gonz{\'a}lez, \{Pablo G.\} and Luca Costantin and Edoardo Iani and Pierluigi Rinaldi and Javier {\'A}lvarez-M{\'a}rquez and Arjan Bik and Bosman, \{Sarah E.I.\} and \{Crespo G{\'o}mez\}, Alejandro and Andreas Eckart and Macarena Garc{\'i}a-Mar{\'i}n and Greve, \{Thomas R.\} and Jens Hjorth and A. Labiano and Danial Langeroodi and Jens Melinder and Florian Pei{\ss}ker and Fabian Walter and Manuel G{\"u}del and Thomas Henning and Lagage, \{Pierre Olivier\} and Ray, \{Thomas P.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Authors 2025.",

year = "2025",

month = dec,

day = "3",

doi = "10.1051/0004-6361/202553779",

language = "English",

volume = "704",

journal = "Astronomy and Astrophysics",

issn = "0004-6361",

publisher = "EDP SCIENCES S A",

}

Gillman, S, Pye, JP, Alonso-Herrero, A, Ward, MJ, Boogaard, L, Tikkanen, TV, Colina, L, Östlin, G, Pérez-González, PG, Costantin, L, Iani, E, Rinaldi, P, Álvarez-Márquez, J, Bik, A, Bosman, SEI, Crespo Gómez, A, Eckart, A, García-Marín, M, Greve, TR, Hjorth, J, Labiano, A, Langeroodi, D, Melinder, J, Peißker, F, Walter, F, Güdel, M, Henning, T, Lagage, PO & Ray, TP 2025, 'MIDIS: Quantifying the active galactic nucleus component of X-ray-detected galaxies', Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 704, A100. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202553779

TY - JOUR

T1 - MIDIS: Quantifying the active galactic nucleus component of X-ray-detected galaxies

AU - Gillman, Steven

AU - Pye, John P.

AU - Alonso-Herrero, Almudena

AU - Ward, Martin J.

AU - Boogaard, Leindert

AU - Tikkanen, Tuomo V.

AU - Colina, Luis

AU - Östlin, Göran

AU - Pérez-González, Pablo G.

AU - Costantin, Luca

AU - Iani, Edoardo

AU - Rinaldi, Pierluigi

AU - Álvarez-Márquez, Javier

AU - Bik, Arjan

AU - Bosman, Sarah E.I.

AU - Crespo Gómez, Alejandro

AU - Eckart, Andreas

AU - García-Marín, Macarena

AU - Greve, Thomas R.

AU - Hjorth, Jens

AU - Labiano, A.

AU - Langeroodi, Danial

AU - Melinder, Jens

AU - Peißker, Florian

AU - Walter, Fabian

AU - Güdel, Manuel

AU - Henning, Thomas

AU - Lagage, Pierre Olivier

AU - Ray, Thomas P.

PY - 2025/12/3

Y1 - 2025/12/3

N2 - X-ray and infrared surveys provide efficient, and to some degree complementary, means of detecting and characterising active galactic nuclei (AGNs), with the infrared also providing an important probe of the host galaxies. To this end we combine the deepest X-ray survey from the Chandra Deep Field-South (CDF-S) ‘7-Ms’ survey with the deepest mid-infrared (5.6 μm) image from the JWST/MIRI Deep Imaging Survey (MIDIS) in the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (HUDF) to study the infrared counterparts and point-source emission of 31 X-ray sources with a median, intrinsic, rest-frame X-ray luminosity of log10(L Xc0.5−7keV) = 42.04 ± 0.22 erg s−1. The sample includes 24 AGNs with a redshift range, set by the X-ray detectability, of z ≃ 0.5−3, with the bulk of the sources lying at z ≃ 1−2, i.e. around the epoch of cosmic noon. Through a multi-wavelength morphological decomposition, employing three separate classifications (visual, parametric, and non-parametric), we separate (where present) the luminosity of the point-like AGN component from the remainder of the host-galaxy emission. The unprecedented mid-infrared sensitivity and imaging resolution of MIRI allows, in many cases, for the direct characterisation of point-like (i.e. unresolved) components in the galaxies’ emission. We establish a broad agreement between the three morphological classifications. At least 70% of the X-ray sources, including some classified as galaxies, show unresolved emission in the MIRI images, with the unresolved-to-total flux fraction at rest-frame 2 μm ranging from ∼0.2 to ∼0.9. At high X-ray luminosities (log10(L Xc) > 43 erg s−1), we derive a consistent rest-frame near-infrared 2 μm point-source luminosity to that derived for local AGNs, whilst at lower X-ray luminosities we identify an excess in the 2 μm emission compared to pre-JWST studies. We speculate that this offset may be driven by a combination of Compton-thick AGN components and nuclear starburst, merger-driven activity. Our observations highlight the complex nature of X-ray sources in the distant Universe and demonstrate the power of JWST/MIRI in quantifying their nuclear infrared emission.

AB - X-ray and infrared surveys provide efficient, and to some degree complementary, means of detecting and characterising active galactic nuclei (AGNs), with the infrared also providing an important probe of the host galaxies. To this end we combine the deepest X-ray survey from the Chandra Deep Field-South (CDF-S) ‘7-Ms’ survey with the deepest mid-infrared (5.6 μm) image from the JWST/MIRI Deep Imaging Survey (MIDIS) in the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (HUDF) to study the infrared counterparts and point-source emission of 31 X-ray sources with a median, intrinsic, rest-frame X-ray luminosity of log10(L Xc0.5−7keV) = 42.04 ± 0.22 erg s−1. The sample includes 24 AGNs with a redshift range, set by the X-ray detectability, of z ≃ 0.5−3, with the bulk of the sources lying at z ≃ 1−2, i.e. around the epoch of cosmic noon. Through a multi-wavelength morphological decomposition, employing three separate classifications (visual, parametric, and non-parametric), we separate (where present) the luminosity of the point-like AGN component from the remainder of the host-galaxy emission. The unprecedented mid-infrared sensitivity and imaging resolution of MIRI allows, in many cases, for the direct characterisation of point-like (i.e. unresolved) components in the galaxies’ emission. We establish a broad agreement between the three morphological classifications. At least 70% of the X-ray sources, including some classified as galaxies, show unresolved emission in the MIRI images, with the unresolved-to-total flux fraction at rest-frame 2 μm ranging from ∼0.2 to ∼0.9. At high X-ray luminosities (log10(L Xc) > 43 erg s−1), we derive a consistent rest-frame near-infrared 2 μm point-source luminosity to that derived for local AGNs, whilst at lower X-ray luminosities we identify an excess in the 2 μm emission compared to pre-JWST studies. We speculate that this offset may be driven by a combination of Compton-thick AGN components and nuclear starburst, merger-driven activity. Our observations highlight the complex nature of X-ray sources in the distant Universe and demonstrate the power of JWST/MIRI in quantifying their nuclear infrared emission.

KW - galaxies: active

KW - galaxies: high-redshift

KW - galaxies: structure

KW - X-rays: galaxies

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105024074077

UR - https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2025A%26A...704A.100G/abstract

U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361/202553779

DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/202553779

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105024074077

SN - 0004-6361

VL - 704

JO - Astronomy and Astrophysics

JF - Astronomy and Astrophysics

M1 - A100

ER -

MIDIS: Quantifying the active galactic nucleus component of X-ray-detected galaxies

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Funding

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

Keywords

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