SDSS-IV/SPIDERS: A catalogue of X-ray selected AGN properties

Abstract

This work presents the catalogue of optical spectral properties for all X-ray selected SPIDERS active galactic nuclei (AGN) up to SDSS DR14. SPIDERS (SPectroscopic IDentification of eROSITA Sources) is an SDSS-IV programme that is currently conducting optical spectroscopy of the counterparts to the X-ray selected sources detected in the ROSAT all-sky survey and the XMM-Newton slew survey in the footprint of the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS). The SPIDERS DR14 sample is the largest sample of X-ray selected AGN with optical spectroscopic follow-up to date. The catalogue presented here is based on a clean sample of 7344 2RXS ( z ¯ = 0.5) and 1157 XMM-Newton slew survey ( z ¯ = 0.4) type 1 AGN with spectroscopic coverage of the H β and/or MgII emission lines. Visual inspection results for each object in this sample are available from a combination of literature sources and the SPIDERS group, which provide both reliable redshifts and source classifications. The spectral regions around the H β and MgII emission lines have been fit in order to measure both line and continuum properties, estimate bolometric luminosities, and provide black hole mass estimates using the single-epoch (or photoionisation) method. The use of both H β and MgII allows black hole masses to be estimated up to z ≃ 2.5. A comparison is made between the spectral properties and black hole mass estimates derived from H β and MgII using the subsample of objects which have coverage of both lines in their spectrum. These results have been made publicly available as an SDSS-IV DR14 value added catalogue.