Related papers: Microlensing probes the AGN structure of the lense…
We propose a method for detecting gravitational magnification of distant sources, like quasars, due to absorber systems detected in their spectra. We first motivate the use of metal absorption lines rather than Lyman-alpha lines, then we…
We use archival data of NASA's Chandra X-ray telescope to compile an X-ray light curve of all four images of the quadruply lensed quasar Q2237+0305 (z=1.695) from January 2006 to January 2007. We fit simulated point spread functions to the…
We present results of the near-infrared (IR) spectroscopy of six quasars whose redshifts range from 0.158 to 1.084. Combined with the satellite ultraviolet data, the relative line strengths of OI 1304, OI 8446, OI 11287, and the near-IR…
The interpretation of the main sequence of quasars has become a frontier subject in the last years. The consider the effect of a highly flattened, axially symmetric geometry for the broad-line region (BLR) on the parameters related to the…
We identify a third image in the unique quasar lens SDSS J1029+2623, the second known quasar lens produced by a massive cluster of galaxies. The spectrum of the third image shows similar emission and absorption features, but has a redder…
We propose and discuss a new experimental approach to measure the centroid shift induced by gravitational microlensing in the images of lensed quasars (astrometric microlensing). Our strategy is based on taking the photocenter of a region…
The gravitational lens system CLASS B2108+213 has two lensed images separated by 4.56 arcsec. Such a wide image separation suggests that the lens is either a massive galaxy, or is composed of a group of galaxies. To investigate the…
We performed spectroscopic observations of the small-separation lensed quasar SDSS J1001+5027, whose images have an angular separation $\theta \sim 2.^{\!\!\prime\prime}86$, and placed constraints on the physical properties of gas clouds in…
While gravitationally lensed quasars are expected to display an odd number of images, invariably systems are observed with an even number of quasars. For this, lensing galaxies must have very small core radii; this provides strong…
GRB afterglows offer a probe of the intergalactic medium out to high redshift which complements observations along more abundant quasar lines-of-sight. Although both quasars and GRB afterglows should provide a-priori random sight-lines…
Strong gravitational lensing leads to an occurrence of multiple images, with different magnifications, of a lensed source. Those magnifications can in turn be modified by microlensing on smaller mass scales within the lens. Recently,…
Bright submm-selected galaxies have been found to be a rich source of strong gravitational lenses. However, strong gravitational lensing of extended sources leads inevitably to differential magnification. In this paper I quantify the effect…
The mid-IR flux ratios F_A/F_B = 2.84 +/- 0.06 of the two images of the gravitationally lensed quasar HE 1104-1805 show no wavelength dependence to within 3% across 3.6-8.0 um, no time dependence over 6 months and agree with the broad…
We re-analyze brightness data sampled intensively over 5 nights at two epochs separated by the quasar lens time delay, to examine the nature of the observed microlensing. We find strong evidence for a microlensing event with an amplitude of…
Strong gravitational lensing distorts our view of sources at cosmological distances but brings invaluable constraints on the mass content of foreground objects and on the geometry and properties of the Universe. We report the detection of a…
(abridged) Aims: RXS J113155.4-123155 (z=0.66) is a quadruply imaged lensed quasar with a resolved Einstein Ring. The goal of this paper is to provide a full characterization of this system, and more particularly accurate astrometry and…
We present measurements of the optical/UV emission lines for a large homogeneous sample of 993 quasars from the Large Bright Quasar Survey. Our largely automated technique accounts for continuum breaks and galactic reddening, and we perform…
Matter flows in the central regions of quasars during their active phases are probably responsible for the properties of the super-massive black holes and that of the bulges of host galaxies. To understand how this mechanism works, we need…
We use the high magnification event seen in the 1999 OGLE campaign light curve of image C of the quadruply imaged gravitational lens Q2237+0305 to study the structure of the quasar engine. We have obtained g'- and r'-band photometry at the…
We investigate FeII emission in Broad Line Region (BLR) of AGNs by analyzing the FeII(UV), FeII(4570) and MgII emission lines in 884 quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Quasar catalog in a redshift range of 0.727 < z < 0.804.…