Related papers: The relation between quasars' optical spectra and …
We study 16,707 quasar spectra from the SDSS using the Karhunen-Lo\`eve (KL) transform (or Principal Component Analysis, PCA). The quasar eigenspectra of the full catalog reveal the following: 1st order - the mean spectrum; 2nd order - a…
Optical spectropolarimetry carried out by Kishimoto et al. (2004) has shown that several luminous type 1 quasars show a strong decrease of the polarized continuum flux in the rest-frame near-UV wavelengths of $\lambda<4000$\AA. In the…
We report on the diversity in quasar spectra from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. After filtering the spectra to mitigate selection effects and Malmquist bias associated with a nearly flux-limited sample, we create high…
In order to investigate the dependence of quasar optical-UV variability on fundamental physical parameters like black hole mass, we have matched quasars from the QUEST1 variability survey with broad-lined objects from the SDSS. Black hole…
We performed a new analysis of B and R light curves of a sample of PG quasars. We confirm the variability-redshift correlation and its explanation in terms of spectral variability, coupled with the increase of rest-frame observing frequency…
Changing-look quasars are a recently identified class of active galaxies in which the strong UV continuum and/or broad optical hydrogen emission lines associated with unobscured quasars either appear or disappear on timescales of months to…
We present high S/N spectra of the H-beta region in 17 intermediate redshift (0.85 le z le 2.5) quasars. The spectra represent first results of our campaign to test the redshift/luminosity robustness of the so-called Eigenvector 1 (E1)…
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 investigate the UV-optical (longward of Ly$\alpha$ 1216\AA) spectral variability of nearly 9000 quasars ($0<z<4$) using multi-epoch photometric data within the SDSS Stripe 82 region. The regression slope in the flux-flux space of a…
We measure quasar variability using the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System 1 Survey (Pan-STARRS1 or PS1) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and establish a method of selecting quasars via their variability in 10,000…
Observations have shown that UV/optical variation amplitude of quasars depend on several physi- cal parameters including luminosity, Eddington ratio, and likely also black hole mass. Identifying new factors which correlate with the…
The diverse properties of broad-line quasars appear to follow a well-defined main sequence along which the optical FeII strength increases. It has been suggested that this sequence is mainly driven by the Eddington ratio (L/L_Edd) of the…
We present quasar bolometric corrections using the [O III] $\lambda5007$ narrow emission line luminosity based on the detailed spectral energy distributions of 53 bright quasars at low to moderate redshift ($0.0345<z<1.0002$). We adopted…
We present an analysis of the orientation effects in SDSS quasar composite spectra. In a previous work we have shown that the equivalent width EW of the [OIII] {\lambda}5008{\AA} line is a reliable indicator of the inclination of the…
In our second paper on long-term quasar variability, we employ a much larger database of quasars than in de Vries, Becker & White. This expanded sample, containing 35165 quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 2, and 6413…
The Eddington ratio is a key parameter that governs the diversity of quasar properties. It can be scaled with a strong anti-correlation between optical Fe II and [O III] emission. In search of such indicators in the far-UV band, the HST…
This study is focused on the observational measurement of the viewing angle of individual quasars by modeling the broadband quasar spectrum ranging from the infra-red (IR) to the soft X-ray band. Sources are selected from various published…
We make use of individual (epoch) detection data from the Pan-STARRS 3Pi survey for 2863 optical ICRF3 counterparts in the five wavelength bands g, r, i, z, and y, published as part of the Data Release 2. A dedicated method based on the…
Given the anisotropic emission from quasar accretion discs, their viewing angle affects estimates of the quasar luminosity, black-hole mass and Eddington ratio. Discs appear overluminous when viewed pole-on and underluminous when viewed at…
"Changing-look" quasars are a new class of highly variable active galactic nuclei that have changed their spectral type over surprisingly short timescales of just a few years. The origin of this phenomenon is debated, but is likely to…