Related papers: Quasar emission lines as virial luminosity estimat…
We present observations of extended, 20-kpc scale soft X-ray gas around a luminous obscured quasar hosted by an ultra-luminous infrared galaxy caught in the midst of a major merger. The extended X-ray emission is well fit as a thermal gas…
Reverberation mapping technique is an important milestone in AGN demographics, kinematics and the structure of the Broad Line Region (BLR) based on the time-delay response between the continuum and emission line. The time delay is directly…
Utilizing 21 new Chandra observations as well as archival Chandra, ROSAT, and XMM-Newton data, we study the X-ray properties of a representative sample of 59 of the most optically luminous quasars in the Universe (M_i~~-29.3 to -30.2)…
We present Keck near-infrared and WIYN optical photometry of a sample of galaxies detected by near-infrared narrowband imaging in the fields of quasar metal absorption line systems at z~2.4. Wide separations (0.6-1.6/h Mpc) from the quasars…
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…
Understanding how the Universe evolved from diffuse primordial gas into the rich cosmic web we observe today is one of the great challenges of modern astrophysics. Quasar absorption lines - the imprints left by intervening gas on the light…
We present UBRI photometry and spectra for 60 quasars found within one square degree centered on the J0053+1234 region, which has been the subject of the Caltech Faint Galaxy Redshift Survey. Candidate quasars were selected by their…
The time delay between images of strongly gravitationally lensed quasars is an established cosmological probe. Its limitations, however, include uncertainties in the assumed mass distribution of the lens. We re-examine the methodology of a…
We analyze the long-term (rest-frame 3-30 yr) X-Ray variability of eleven broad absorption line (BAL) quasars, mainly to constrain the variation properties of the X-Ray absorbing shielding gas that is thought to play a critical role in BAL…
Quasars show a remarkable degree of atomic emission line-broadening, an observational feature which, in conjunction with a radial distance estimate for this emission from the nucleus is often used to infer the mass of the central…
Quasar outflows are fundamental components of quasar environments that might play an important role in feedback to galaxy evolution. We report on the emergence of a remarkable new outflow absorption-line system in the quasar PG1411+442…
Hyper-luminous Quasi-Stellar Objects (QSOs) represent the ideal laboratory to investigate Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) feedback mechanism since their formidable energy release causes powerful winds at all scales and thus the maximum…
X-ray lines have been recently detected in the afterglows of a few gamma-ray bursts. We derive constraints on the physical conditions in the line-emitting gas, using as an example the multiple K$_\alpha$ lines detected by Reeves et al.…
Understanding the growth of the supermassive black holes powering luminous quasars, their co-evolution with host galaxies, and impact on the surrounding intergalactic medium depends sensitively on the duration of quasar accretion episodes.…
The incidence of broad absorption lines (BALs) in quasar samples is often interpreted in the context of a geometric unification model consisting of an accretion disc and an associated outflow. We use the the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)…
We have recently demonstrated that the non-linear relation between ultraviolet and X-ray luminosity in quasars is very tight (with an intrinsic dispersion of ~0.2 dex), once contaminants (e.g. dust reddening, X-ray absorption), variability,…
We present evidence that clumps of \lya lines are physically associated with about half of the extensive metal-line systems (absorption systems with four or more observed metal-line species) found in this paper, demonstrate that all four…
Recently, with the Chandra X-ray Telescope we have detected several local X-ray absorption lines along lines-of-sight towards distant quasars. These absorption lines are produced by warm/hot gas located in local intergalactic space and/or…
Calculations are performed to demonstrate the deviations from Gaussian that occur in the spectral line profiles of a linear maser as a result of the amplification process. Near-Gaussian profiles are presented for bright, interstellar 22 GHz…
We statistically study the physical properties of a sample of narrow absorption line (NAL) systems looking for empirical evidences to distinguish between intrinsic and intervening NALs without taking into account any a priori definition or…