11 research outputs found
Massive ionized outflows in quasars
The most luminous quasars in the Hamburg- ESO (HE) survey show, at a high prevalence, CIV λ1549 and [OIII]λλ4959,5007 emission line profiles with high-amplitude blueshifts which indicate outflows occurring over a wide range of spatial scales. We found evidence in favor of the nuclear origin of the outflows diagnosed by [OIII]λλ 4959,5007. The derived ionized gas mass, kinetic power, and radiation thrust are extremely high, and suggest widespread feedback on the host galaxies of very luminous quasars, at cosmic epochs between 2 and 6 Gyr from the Big Bang
Expectations for time-delay measurements in active galactic nuclei with the Vera Rubin Observatory
The Vera Rubin Observatory will provide an unprecedented set of
time-dependent observations of the sky. The planned Legacy Survey of Space and
Time (LSST) operating for 10 years will provide dense lightcurves for thousands
of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in Deep Drilling Fields (DDFs) and less dense
lightcurves for millions of AGN. We model the prospects for measuring time
delays for emission lines with respect to the continuum, using these data. We
model the artificial lightcurves using Timmer-Koenig algorithm, we use the
exemplary cadence to sample them, we supplement lightcurves with the expected
contamination by the strong emission lines (Hbeta, Mg II and CIV as well as
with Fe II pseudo-continuum and the starlight). We choose the suitable
photometric bands appropriate for the redshift and compare the assumed line
time delay with the recovered time delay for 100 statistical realizations of
the light curves. We show that time delays for emission lines can be well
measured from the Main Survey for the bright tail of the quasar distribution
(about 15% of all sources) with the accuracy within 1 sigma error, for DDFs
results for fainter quasars are also reliable when all 10 years of data are
used. There are also some prospects to measure the time delays for the faintest
quasars at the smallest redshifts from the first two years of data, and
eventually even from the first season. The entire quasar population will allow
obtaining results of apparently high accuracy but in our simulations, we see a
systematic offset between the assumed and recovered time delay depending on the
redshift and source luminosity which will not disappear even in the case of
large statistics. Such a problem might affect the slope of the
radius-luminosity relation and cosmological applications of quasars if
simulations correcting for such effects are not performed.Comment: Submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysics, comments wellcom
Time-delay measurement of MgII broad line response for the highly-accreting quasar HE 0413-4031: Implications for the MgII-based radius-luminosity relation
We present the monitoring of the AGN continuum and MgII broad line emission
for the quasar HE 0413-4031 () based on the six-year monitoring by the
South African Large Telescope (SALT). We managed to estimate a time-delay of
days in the rest frame of the source using seven
different methods: interpolated cross-correlation function (ICCF), discrete
correlation function (DCF), -transformed DCF, JAVELIN, two estimators of
data regularity (Von Neumann, Bartels), and method. This time-delay is
below the value expected from the standard radius-luminosity relation. However,
based on the monochromatic luminosity of the source and the SED modelling, we
interpret this departure as the shortening of the time-delay due to the higher
accretion rate of the source, with the inferred Eddington ratio of .
The MgII line luminosity of HE 0413-4031 responds to the continuum variability
as , which is consistent with
the light-travel distance of the location of MgII emission at . Using the data of 10 other quasars, we confirm the
radius-luminosity relation for broad MgII line, which was previously determined
for broad H line for lower-redshift sources. In addition, we detect a
general departure of higher-accreting quasars from this relation in analogy to
H sample. After the accretion-rate correction of the light-travel
distance, the MgII-based radius-luminosity relation has a small scatter of only
dex.Comment: 39 pages (23 pages - Main text, 16 pages - Appendix), 21 figures, 14
tables; accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
Time delay measurement of Mg II line in CTS C30.10 with SALT
We report 6 yr monitoring of a distant bright quasar CTS C30.10 (z = 0.90052)
with the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT). We measured the rest-frame
time-lag of days between the continuum variations and the response
of the Mg II emission line, using the Javelin approach. More conservative
approach, based on five different methods, imply the time delay of
days. This time delay, combined with other available
measurements of Mg II line delay, mostly for lower redshift sources, shows that
the Mg II line reverberation implies a radius-luminosity relation very similar
to the one based on a more frequently studied H line.Comment: submitted to ApJ; comments welcom
A Transient "Changing-look'' Active Galactic Nucleus Resolved on Month Timescales from First-year Sloan Digital Sky Survey V Data
We report the discovery of a new ``changing-look'' active galactic nucleus
(CLAGN) event, in the quasar SDSS J162829.17+432948.5 at z=0.2603, identified
through repeat spectroscopy from the fifth Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-V).
Optical photometry taken during 2020--2021 shows a dramatic dimming of
g1 mag, followed by a rapid recovery on a timescale of
several months, with the 2 month period of rebrightening captured
in new SDSS-V and Las Cumbres Observatory spectroscopy. This is one of the
fastest CLAGN transitions observed to date. Archival observations suggest that
the object experienced a much more gradual dimming over the period of
2011--2013. Our spectroscopy shows that the photometric changes were
accompanied by dramatic variations in the quasar-like continuum and broad-line
emission. The excellent agreement between the pre- and postdip photometric and
spectroscopic appearances of the source, as well as the fact that the dimmest
spectra can be reproduced by applying a single extinction law to the brighter
spectral states, favor a variable line-of-sight obscuration as the driver of
the observed transitions. Such an interpretation faces several theoretical
challenges, and thus an alternative accretion-driven scenario cannot be
excluded. The recent events observed in this quasar highlight the importance of
spectroscopic monitoring of large active galactic nucleus samples on
weeks-to-months timescales, which the SDSS-V is designed to achieve.Comment: Published in ApJ
Quasars: From the Physics of Line Formation to Cosmology
Quasars accreting matter at very high rates (known as extreme Population A (xA) or super-Eddington accreting massive black holes) provide a new class of distance indicators covering cosmic epochs from the present-day Universe up to less than 1 Gyr from the Big Bang. The very high accretion rate makes it possible that massive black holes hosted in xA quasars can radiate at a stable, extreme luminosity-to-mass ratio. This in turn translates into stable physical and dynamical conditions of the mildly ionized gas in the quasar low-ionization line emitting region. In this contribution, we analyze the main optical and UV spectral properties of extreme Population A quasars that make them easily identifiable in large spectroscopic surveys at low- (z . 1) and intermediate-z (2 . z . 2.6), and the physical conditions that are derived for the formation of their emission lines. Ultimately, the analysis supports the possibility of identifying a virial broadening estimator from low-ionization line widths, and the conceptual validity of the redshift-independent luminosity estimates based on virial broadening for a known luminosity-to-mass ratioP.M. wishes to thank the Scientific Organizing Committee of the Symposium on the Physics of Ionized Gases (SPIG 2018) meeting for inviting the topical lecture on which this paper is based, and acknowledges the Programa de Estancias de Investigación (PREI) No. DGAP/DFA/2192/2018 of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), where this paper was written. The relevant research is part of the project 176001 “Astrophysical spectroscopy of extragalactic objects” and 176003 “Gravitation and the large scale structure of the Universe” supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. M.L.M.-A. acknowledges a CONACyT postdoctoral fellowship. A.d.O. and M.L.M.-A. acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry for Economy and Competitiveness through Grant Nos. AYA2013-42227-P and AYA2016-76682-C3-1-P. M.L.M.-A, P.M. and M.D. acknowledge funding from the INAF PRIN-SKA 2017 program 1.05.01.88.04. D.D. and A.N. acknowledge support from CONACyT through Grant No. CB221398. D.D. and C.A.N. are also thankful for the support from Grant No. IN108716 53 PAPIIT, UNAMWe acknowledge support by the CSIC Open Access Publication Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI)Peer reviewe