The Local Population of Obscured AGN

We propose for 10 ks observations of 27 galaxies within 15 Mpc that have a farinfrared luminosity greater than 5x 10^42 erg s^1. Combining these observationswith 39 similar objects already in the XMMNewton and Chandra archives willyield a complete sample of such IRluminous AGN within 15 Mpc. These data willenable us to discover previously unknown buried AGN, which would be nearlyimpossible to detect at other wavelengths, and thus fill holes in our knowledgeof the local column density distribution, luminosity function andobscuredtounobscured AGN ratio all of which are key ingredients tounderstanding the Xray background and the cosmic evolution of AGN. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]