PREVALENCE OF HIGH X-RAY OBSCURING COLUMNS AMONG AGNs THAT HOST H2O MASERS

Of 104 AGNs known to exhibit H2O maser emission, X-ray data that enable estimation of column densities, or lower limits, are available for 42. Contributing to this, we report analysis of new and archival X-ray data for eight galaxies and collation of values for three more. Maser emission is indicative of large columns of cold gas, and in five of the eight new cases, maser spectra point toward origins in accretion disks viewed close to edge-on (a.k.a. disk maser systems). In these, we detect hard continuum and Fe K alpha emission with equivalent widths on the order of 1 keV, which is consistent with Compton reflection, fluorescence by cold material, and obscuring columns greater than or similar to 10(24) cm(-2). Reviewing the full sample of 42, 95% N-H > 10(23) cm(-2) and 60% exhibit N-H > 10(24) cm(-2). Half of these are now recognized to be disk masers (up from 13); in this subsample, which is likely to be more homogeneous vis-a-vis the origin of maser emission, 76% exhibit N-H > 10(24) cm(-2). The probability of a common parent distribution of columns for disk masers and other AGN masers is less than or similar to 3%. Because ground-based surveys of AGNs to detect new disk masers are relatively unbiased with respect to X-ray brightness and comparatively inexpensive, they may also be efficient guides for the sensitive pointed X-ray observations required to identify Compton-thick objects outside of shallow surveys.