The relationship between [OIII]5007A equivalent width and obscuration in
  AGN
  In this paper we study the relationship between the equivalent width (EW) of
the [OIII]5007A narrow emission line in AGN and the level of obscuration. To
this end, we combine the results of a systematic spectral analysis, both in the
optical and in the X-rays, on a statistically complete sample of ~170 X-ray
selected AGN from the XMM-Newton Bright Serendipitous Source sample (XBS). We
find that the observed large range of [OIII]5007A equivalent widths observed in
the sample (from a few A up to 500A) is well explained as a combination of an
intrinsic spread, probably due to the large range of covering factors of the
Narrow Line Region, and the effect of absorption. The intrinsic spread is
dominant for EW below 40-50A while absorption brings the values of EW up to
~100-150A, for moderate levels of absorption (AV~0.5-2 mag) or up to ~500A for
AV>2 mag. In this picture, the absorption has a significant impact on the
observed EW also in type~1 AGN. Using numerical simulations we find that this
model is able to reproduce the [OIII]5007A EW distribution observed in the XBS
sample and correctly predicts the shape of the EW distribution observed in the
optically selected sample of QSO taken from the SDSS survey.
