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H. Ghosh, B. J. Wilkes (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA), R. M. Cutri (IPAC), D. C. Hines (Steward Obs.), B. Nelson (IPAC), G. D. Schmidt, P. S. Smith (Steward Obs.)
The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) is finding previously unidentified, luminous red active galactic nuclei (AGN). This new sample has a space density similar to, or greater than, previously known AGN, suggesting that a large fraction of the overall population has been missed. We present \emph{Chandra} observations of a well-defined subset of these objects. All of the objects are X-ray faint, and the X-ray hardness ratios cover a wide range, but the softest sources show no spectral evidence for intrinsic absorption. These characteristics suggest that a mix of absorbed, direct emission and unabsorbed, scattered (and/or extended) emission contributes to the X-ray flux, although we cannot rule the possibility that they are intrinsically X-ray weak. This population of X-ray faint, predominantly broad-line objects could provide the missing population of X-ray absorbed AGN required by current models of the cosmic X-ray background.
The financial support of NASA grant GO1-2112A (Chandra GO) is gratefully acknowledged.