On the relation between X-ray absorption and optical extinction in AGN

According to the Unified Model of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), an X-ray unabsorbed AGN should appear as unobscured in the optical band (the so called type-1 AGN). However, there is an important fraction (10-30%) of AGN whose optical and X-ray classifications do not match. To provide insight into the origin of such apparent discrepancies, we have conducted two types of analysis: 1) a detailed study of the UV-to-near-IR emission of two X-ray low absorbed AGN with high optical extinction drawn from the Bright Ultra-Hard XMM-Newton Survey (BUXS); 2) a statistical analysis of the optical obscuration and X-ray absorption properties of 159 type-1 AGN drawn from BUXS to determine the distribution of dust-to-gas ratios in AGN over a broad range of luminosities and redshifts. We have determined the impact of contamination from the AGN hosts in their optical classification (detection or lack of detection of rest-frame UV-optical broad emission lines). This is an on-going project, but our preliminary results, reported below, are very promising.