Related papers: Calibrating Emission Lines as Quasar Bolometers
Broad absorption line (BAL) features in quasar spectra reveal an unambiguous signature of energetic outflows from central supermassive black holes, and thus BAL quasars are prime targets for investigating the potential process of luminous…
Broad absorption lines (BALs) are present in the spectra of ~20% of quasars (QSOs); this indicates fast outflows (up to 0.2c) that intercept the observer's line of sight. These QSOs can be distinguished again into radio-loud (RL) BAL QSOs…
The most reliable single-epoch supermassive black hole mass ($M_{\rm BH}$) estimates in quasars are obtained by using the velocity widths of low-ionization emission lines, typically the H$\beta$ $\lambda4861$ line. Unfortunately, this line…
We recently proposed the equivalent width (EW) of the narrow [OIII]5007{\AA} emission line as an orientation indicator for active galactic nuclei. We tested this method on about $12,300$ optically selected broad line quasars from the SDSS…
We explore the practical feasibility of AGN broad-band reverberation mapping and present first results. We lay out and apply a rigorous approach for stochastic reverberation mapping of unevenly sampled multi-broad-band flux measurements,…
The kinematics and morphology of the broad emission line region (BELR) of quasars are the subject of significant debate. The two leading methods for constraining BELR properties are microlensing and reverberation mapping. Here we combine…
It has been known for 20 years that the absorbing gas in broad absorption line quasars does not completely cover the continuum emission region, and that partial covering must be accounted for to accurately measure the column density of the…
We apply a new method of determination of the size of the broad emission-line region (BLR) in active galactic nuclei. This method relates the radius of the broad-line region of AGN to the soft X-ray luminosity and spectral index. Comparing…
It remains uncertain which continuum and emission line diagnostics best indicate the bolometric powers of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), especially given the attenuation caused by the circumnuclear material and the possible contamination by…
AGN display an extreme range in the narrow emission line equivalent widths. Specifically, in the PG quasar sample the equivalent width of the narrow [O III] 5007 line has a range of >300, while the broad Hb line, for example, has a range of…
A module of the ATLAS electromagnetic barrel liquid argon calorimeter was exposed to the CERN electron test-beam at the H8 beam line upgraded for precision momentum measurement. The available energies of the electron beam ranged from 10 to…
In this work we analyze a sample of AGN spectra, selected from the 6th Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, exploiting a generalized technique of line profile analysis, designed to take into account the whole profiles of their…
We spectroscopically measure multiple hydrogen Balmer line profiles from laboratory plasmas to investigate the theoretical line profiles used in white dwarf atmosphere models. X-ray radiation produced at the Z Pulsed Power Facility at…
The advent of 8--10 meter class telescopes enables direct measurement of the chemical properties in the ionized gas of cosmologically--distant galaxies with the same nebular analysis techniques used in local H II regions. We show that…
Aims. This study investigates the relationship between the Mg II {\lambda}2798 {\AA} emission line and the 3000 {\AA} continuum luminosity, as well as the Baldwin Effect, in a sample of 40,685 radio-quiet (RQ) quasars and 441 Flat Spectrum…
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…
Based on the measured sizes of broad line region of the reverberation-mapping AGN sample, two new empirical relations are introduced to estimate the central black hole masses of radio-loud high-redshift ($z > 0.5$) AGNs. First, using the…
The nuclei of a wide class of active galaxies emit broad emission lines with widths at half maximum (FWHM) in the range $10^{3}-10^{4}$ km s$^{-1}$. This spread of widths is not solely a consequence of the range of the luminosities of these…
It is shown that, for Broad Line Radio Galaxies the strength of the non-thermal beamed radiation, when present, is always smaller than the accretion flow by a factor < 0.7 in the 2-10 keV band. The result has been obtained using the…
Broad Absorption Line (BAL) QSOs have been suggested to be youthful super-accretors based on their powerful radiatively driven absorbing outflows and often reddened continua. To test this hypothesis, we observed near IR spectra of the…