We discuss the properties of the low-redshift narrow-emission line galaxies detected in the framework of a variability-and-proper motion (VPM) search for AGNs. The VPM-NELG sample is obviously not a random selection of normal field galaxies.

The Second part of the FBS is devoted to the discovery and study of blue stellar objects. It was carried out in an area of 4009 deg2 and identified 1103 objects: hot subdwarfs and white dwarfs, cataclysmic variables, QSOs and Seyfert galaxies, etc. The discovery of new bright QSOs led to a re-evaluation of their surface density (0.012 deg−2). Several interesting cataclysmic variables have been discovered as well.

Six new possible BL Lac candidates from the FBS are presented.

BL Lac’s may be found everywhere in space. But they are the dominant members in all systems of which they are part.

A review of the spectroscopic tools needed to characterize AGNs is presented. This review focusses on ultraviolet, optical and infrared emission-line diagnostics specifically designed to help differentiate AGNs from starburst-dominated galaxies. The strengths and weaknesses of these methods are discussed in the context of on-going and future AGN surveys.

The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) provides an unprecedented, uniform photometric data set for large samples of AGN discovered at other wavelengths, and also forms the basis to search for previously unknown, obscured AGN. We present the results of a highly efficient near infrared color-based AGN survey using 2MASS that has already discovered 485 new, red AGN and QSOs. The extrapolated surface density of the 2MASS red AGN is ~0.57 deg~−2 for Ks≤15.5 mag. The ratio of Type 1 to Type 2 AGN among the newly discovered objects is 4:1, similar to proportions found in X-ray and deep ISO surveys, but the inverse of that found in IRAS surveys. The median redshift of the the new 2MASS red AGN sample is z<0.22, and all but three have z<0.7. The color distribution, polarization and X-ray properties data suggest that most of the 2MASS-discovered AGN are red because of obscuration by dust in and around their nuclei.

We positionally match sources observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), and the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-cm (FIRST) survey. Practically all 2MASS sources are matched to an SDSS source within 2 arcsec; ~11% of them are optically resolved galaxies and the rest are dominated by stars. About 1/3 of FIRST sources are matched to an SDSS source within 2 arcsec; ~80% of these are galaxies and the rest are dominated by quasars. Based on these results, we project that by the completion of these surveys the matched samples will include about 107 stars and 106 galaxies observed by both SDSS and 2MASS, and about 250,000 galaxies and 50,000 quasars observed by both SDSS and FIRST. Here we present a preliminary analysis of the optical, infrared and radio properties for the extragalactic sources from the matched samples. In particular, we find that the fraction of quasars with stellar colors missed by the SDSS spectroscopic survey is probably not larger than ~10%, and that the optical colors of radio-loud quasars are ~0.05 mag. redder (with 4σ significance) than the colors of radio-quiet quasars.

The participants in this meeting are almost all carrying out the hard work of making many different types of AGN surveys. Since it’s so much easier to criticize other people’s work than to do actual work myself, I’ll just present some demurs regarding recent papers drawing conclusions from various AGN survey data. In particular I’ll mention some questionable interpretations of surveys of Seyfert 2 near-UV polarization; interpreting the results of searches for polarized broad H-alpha lines in Seyfert 2s; testing the beam model for radio galaxies and quasars; testing the unification of Seyfert spectral types with a torus; and finally testing the energy sources for ULIRGs, especially those with LINER optical spectra. Only the polarized broad H-α results are examined in detail here.

From the earliest extragalactic infrared studies AGN have shown themselves to be strong infrared sources, and IR surveys have revealed new populations of AGN. I briefly review current motivations for AGN surveys in the infrared and results from previous IR surveys. The Luminous Infrared Galaxies, which in some cases house dust-enshrouded AGN, submillimeter surveys, and recent studies of the cosmic x-ray and infrared backgrounds suggest that there is a population of highly-obscured AGN at high redshift. ISO Surveys have begun to resolve the infrared background and may have detected this obscured AGN population. New infrared surveys, particularly the SIRTF Wide-area Infrared Extragalactic Legacy Survey (SWIRE) will detect this population and provide a platform for understanding the evolution of AGN, Starbursts and passively evolving galaxies in the context of large-scale structure and environment.

We present the first estimate of the evolution of type 1 AGNs in the IR (15 μm) obtained from the ELAIS survey in the S1 region. We find that the luminosity function (LF) of Type 1 AGNs at 15μm is fairly well represented by a double power-law function with a bright slope of 2.9 and a faint slope of 1.1. There is evidence for significant cosmological evolution according to a pure luminosity evolution model L15(z)α(l+z)k, with in a (Ωm,ΩΛ)=(1.0,0.0) cosmology. This evolution is similar to what is observed at other wavebands. From the luminosity function and its evolution, we estimate a contribution of ~ 2% from Type 1 AGN to the total Cosmic Infrared Background (CIRB) at 15 μm.

We present a series of statistical tests using homogeneous data and measurements for a sample of Seyfert galaxies. These galaxies were selected from mostly isotropic properties, their far infrared fluxes and warm infrared colors, which provide a considerable advantage over the criteria used by most investigators in the past, like ultraviolet excess. Our results provide strong support for a Unified Model in which Seyferts 2’s contain a torus seen more edge-on than in Seyferts l’s and show that previous results showing the opposite were most likely due to selection effects.

The amount of energy contributed by type-2 AGNs to the Cosmic Infrared Background (CIB) has recently been the subject of some debate, since models have shown it could be responsible for up to half. If this were the case, this contribution should be taken carefully into account before using the combined CIB and COB to derive the density of metals in the universe. I argue here that an observational answer to this problem comes from ISOCAM deep surveys performed at 15 μm, that do resolve into discrete sources the bulk of the CIB at 140 μm. Studies of the X-ray properties of these sources allow us to assess whether or not they are dominated by AGNs, and to derive that the type-2 AGNs contribution to the CIB is not greater than 20%.

This paper presents preliminary results from the CLASS blazar sample; the aim is to study the cosmological properties of radio selected BL Lacs and their closest relatives, the other low radio luminosity flat spectrum sources.

We present a summary on the discovery of active galactic nuclei in mid- and far-infrared deep surveys with use of the Infrared Space Observatory.

We show that the PAH 7.7μm to continuum 850μm flux ratio can be used to reveal high mid-infrared extinction in ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). While the submm radiation is optically thin and represents the emission from essentially all dust grains, the PAH strength (measured by the peak height of the Polycyclic Aromatic Hydocarbonates at 7.7μm) is sensitive to dust extinction in the mid-infrared (MIR). As an application of the new diagnostic, after dereddening of the central MIR continuum and with the assumption of a disk-like dust distribution seen under a tilted angle, we find increasing evidence for a hidden quasar in the archetypal ULIRG Arp220.

We report on optical and near-infrared (NIR) follow-up spectroscopy of faint far-infrared (FIR) sources found in our deep FIR survey by Kawara et al.

We present new deep optical images, optical spectroscopy, and high-resolution NIR images of IRAS 03158+4227, one of the most luminous ULIRGs from the IRAS 2 Jy sample. The data are best explained either by a multiple merger or by the assumption of a ULIRG triggered in an early phase of galaxy interaction.

The Byurakan-IRAS Galaxy (BIG) sample (1967 galaxies) is based on optical identifications of IRAS PSC sources at δ>+61° and |b| >15° (FBS area). A redshift survey for brighter objects (B<18m) is being carried out with the Byurakan Observatory 2.6m, Special Observatory 6m, and Observatoire de Haute-Provence 1.93m telescopes. 213 objects have been observed, and redshifts in the range 0.008-0.173 have been measured. For this subsample, 15% of the objects are AGNs, and 15% are LIGs and ULIGs.

We have discovered a number of sources still remaining in the IRAS catalogs with no convincing optical identification. Their IR colors and high galactic latitudes indicate faint galaxies (fainter the DSS limit). These empty fields have been observed with the Byurakan Obs. 2.6m telescope in VRI. 22m–23m faint formations have been revealed.

X-ray properties of obscured AGN are reviewd and recent results obtained from ASCA, BeppoSAX, and Chandra are presented. There is a population of AGN that can only be revealed by hard X-ray observations. Studies of the X-ray background suggest that obscured AGN should significantly outnumber their unobscured counterparts.