Optical, near-infrared and hard X-ray observations of SAXJ1353.9+1820: a red quasar

We present the results of a follow-up ASCA observation and multicolour optical and near-infrared photometry carried out at the 3.5-m Italian National Telescope Galileo of SAXJ1353.9+1820. This object, serendipitously discovered by BeppoSAX in the 5-10 keV band, has been spectroscopically identified as a red quasar at z=0.217. The combined X-ray and optical-infrared data reveal the presence of a moderately luminous X-ray source (~ 10^{44} erg s^{-1}) obscured by a column density of the order of 10^{22} cm^{-2} in a otherwise optically passive early-type galaxy. The implications for the nature of red quasars and their possible contribution to the hard X-ray background are briefly outlined.