On the nature of the red, 2MASS selected AGN in the local Universe I: an optical spectroscopic study

We present optical spectra for a representative sample of 27 nearby (z < 0.2) Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)-selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) with red near-infrared colours (J − KS ≳ 2.0). The spectra were taken with the ISIS spectrograph on the William Herschel Telescope with the aim of determining the nature of the red 2MASS AGN, in particular whether they are young quasars obscured by t...