Related papers: Time Variability of Quasars: the Structure Functio…
The UV/optical variation, likely driven by accretion disc turbulence, is a defining characteristic of type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and quasars. In this work we investigate an interesting consequence of such turbulence using quasars…
We present the first detection of photometric variability of a spectroscopically-confirmed Y dwarf. The Infrared Array Camera on board the Spitzer Space Telescope was used to obtain times series photometry at 3.6 and 4.5 microns over a…
The consistency of the Starburst model for AGN is tested using the optical variability observed in large data bases of QSOs. Theoretical predictions for the variability--luminosity relationship and structure function are presented and…
The statistical properties of coherent radiation scattered from phase-ordering materials are studied in detail using large-scale computer simulations and analytic arguments. Specifically, we consider a two-dimensional model with a…
We present the results of a search for variability in the equivalent widths (EWs) of narrow, associated (Delta v < 5,000 km/s) absorption lines found in the UV spectra of z < 1.5 quasars. The goal of this search was to use variability as a…
The [O III] $\lambda\lambda\ 4960,5008$ emission lines in the optical spectra of galaxies and quasars have been widely used to investigate the possible variation of the fine-structure constant $\alpha$ over cosmic time. In this work, we…
Last year (2013) was more or less the 50th anniversary of the discovery of quasars. It is an interesting time to review what we know (and don't know) about them both empirically and theoretically. These compact sources involving line…
In their Letter [Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 121302 (2004)] (also [Astron. Astrophys. 417, 853 (2004)]), Srianand et al. analysed optical spectra of heavy-element species in 23 absorption systems along background quasar sight-lines, reporting…
A database of radio-quiet quasars detected with ROSAT is presented containing 846 quasars seen in the All-Sky Survey and/or in pointed PSPC observations. About 70% of the objects have been detected in X-rays for the first time. We present…
Broad absorption lines (BALs) in quasar spectra indicate high-velocity outflows that may be present in all quasars and could be an important contributor to feedback to their host galaxies. Variability studies of BALs help illuminate the…
A fundamental prediction of relativistic cosmologies is that, due to the expansion of space, observations of the distant cosmos should be time dilated and appear to run slower than events in the local universe. Whilst observations of…
We present a study of high-cadence, high-precision, optical light curves from the TESS satellite of 67 blazars in the southern sky. We provide descriptive flux statistics, power spectral density model parameters, and characteristic…
The relation between X-ray and UV/optical variability in AGNs has been explored in many individual sources, however a large sample study is yet absent. Through matching the XMM-Newton serendipitous X-ray and UV source catalogs with SDSS…
Optical observations of a sample of 12 $\gamma$-ray bright blazars from four optical data archives, AAVSO, SMARTS, Catalina, and Steward Observatory, are compiled to create densely sampled light curves spanning more than a decade. As a part…
With the recent observational evidence in extra galactic astronomy, the interpretation of the nature of quasar redshift continues to be a research interest. Very high redshifts are being detected for extragalactic objects that are…
The SDSS-IV/eBOSS has an extensive quasar program that combines several selection methods. Among these, the photometric variability technique provides highly uniform samples, unaffected by the redshift bias of traditional optical-color…
We use the ROSAT All Sky Survey (RASS) to study the soft X-ray properties of a homogeneous sample of 46,420 quasars selected from the third data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Optical luminosities, both at rest-frame…
We present an analysis of the effects of luminosity on the shape of the mid-infrared spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of 234 radio-quiet quasars originally presented by Richards et al. In quasars without evident dust extinction, the…
We measure long (2200-4000 ang) and short (1450-2200 ang) wavelength spectral slopes \alpha (F_\nu proportional to \nu^\alpha) for quasar spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The long and short wavelength slopes are computed from 3646…
We review recent activity searching for variations in the fundamental constants of nature in quasar absorption spectra and in the laboratory. While research in this direction has been ongoing for many decades, the topic has recently been…