An Infrared and Optical Analysis of a Sample of XBONGs and Optically Elusive AGNs

We present near-infrared (NIR) spectra of four optically elusive active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and four X-ray bright, optically normal galaxies (XBONGs) from the Swift-BAT survey. With archival observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the Two Micron All Sky Survey, Spitzer, and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), we test a number of AGN indicators in the NIR and mid-infrared; namely, NIR emission line diagnostic ratios, the presence of coronal high-ionization lines, and infrared photometry. Of our eight hard X-ray selected AGNs, we find that optical normalcy has a variety of causes from object to object, and no one explanation applies. Our objects have normal Eddington ratios and so are unlikely to host radiatively inefficient accretion flows. It is unlikely that star formation in the host or starlight dilution is contributing to their failure of optical diagnostics, except perhaps in two cases. The NIR continua are well fit by two blackbodies: one at the stellar temperature, and a hot dust component near the dust sublimation temperature. The XBONGs are more likely to have significant hot dust components, while these components are small relative to starlight in the optically elusive AGN. Some of our sample have NIR line ratios typical of AGNs, but NIR diagnostics are unsuccessful in distinguishing H II regions from AGNs in general. In one object, we discover a hidden broad-line region in the NIR. These results have strong relevance to the origin of optically normal AGNs in deep X-ray surveys.