Presentation #226.03 in the session “AGN 1”.
Accretion onto a supermassive black hole can result into the triggering of an active galactic nuclei (AGN). According to the different models of Cosmic X-ray Background (CXB) the diffuse X-ray emission observed in the 1 to ∼200-300 keV band is mainly caused by AGN. Particularly, at the peak of the CXB a significant fraction of emission is expected to be produced by heavily obscured (Compton-thick) AGN. In fact, current models estimate that between 20-50% of all AGN in the local Universe should be Compton thick, while the observed fraction is 5-10%. The goal of the Clemson Compton thick AGN project is to have a complete census of the heavily obscured active galactic nuclei in the local Universe, in order to derive the true Compton-thick AGN fraction. In this talk, I will present our strategy for targeting new Compton-thick AGN candidates in the local Universe, as well as our results regarding the detailed characterization of the properties of obscured AGN within redshift z < 0.05 (d < 200 Mpc).