Related papers: The Optical Variability of QSO's
We present results of a program of high signal-to-noise spectroscopy for 44 QSOs at redshifts > 4 using the MMT and Keck observatories. The quasar spectra cover 1100 -- 1700 A in the rest frame for sources spanning a luminosity range of…
Development of fundamental physics relies on the constancy of various fundamental quantities such as the fine structure constant. Detecting or constraining the possible time variations of these fundamental physical quantities is an…
Quasars are variable and their variability can both constrain their physical properties and help to identify them. We look for ways to efficiently identify quasars exhibiting consistent variability over multi-year time-scales, based on a…
Using a sample of optically-selected quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we have determined the radio-loud fraction (RLF) of quasars as a function of redshift and optical luminosity. The sample contains more than 30,000 objects and…
Changing-look active galactic nuclei (CL AGNs) show large changes in luminosity and optical spectral state on time-scales of a few years, and provide a valuable probe of time-dependent accretion in the disc-BLR-torus system. We present a…
We show that current clustering observations of quasars and luminous AGN can be explained by a merger model augmented by feedback from outflows. Using numerical simulations large enough to study clustering out to 25 comoving h^{-1} Mpc, we…
The unprecedented sensitivity of current X-ray telescopes allows for the first time to address the issue of the Fe K line complex variability patterns in bright, nearby AGNs. We examine XMM-Newton observations of the brightest sources of…
We present the QSO luminosity function of the completed 2dF-SDSS LRG and QSO (2SLAQ) survey, based on QSOs photometrically selected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey imaging data and then observed spectroscopically using the 2dF instrument on…
To better constrain the emission mechanism underlying the hard state of galactic black hole candidates, we use high-time resolution RXTE lightcurves for Cyg X-1 and GX 399-4 to compute two higher order variability statistics for these…
We characterize the optical variability of quasars in the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) and Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) surveys. We re-calibrate the $r$-band light curves for $\sim$28,000 luminous, broad-line AGNs from…
[O III]$\lambda\lambda$4960,5008 doublet are often the strongest narrow emission lines in starburst galaxies and quasi-stellar objects (QSOs), and thus are a promising probe to possible variation of the fine-structure constant $\alpha$ over…
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…
We investigate the variability of the continuum and broad lines in QSO spectra (particularly in the H$\beta$ line and continuum at $\lambda$ 5100 \AA ) caused by microlensing of a diffuse massive structure (like an open star cluster). We…
The solar brightness varies on timescales from minutes to decades. A clear identification of the physical processes behind such variations is needed for developing and improving physics-based models of solar brightness variability and…
We present initial results from an exploratory X-ray monitoring project of two groups of comparably luminous radio-quiet quasars (RQQs). The first consists of four sources at 4.10 <= z <= 4.35, monitored by Chandra, and the second is a…
We carried out a high time-resolution, multicolour optical observing campaign for eight $\gamma$-ray detected blazars during 2010-2020. We analyze flux variations, correlations between magnitudes and colours on different timescales.…
Based on the Seventh Data Release (DR7) quasar catalog from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we investigate the variability of optical quasars in W1, W2, W3 and W4 bands of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and the Near-Earth…
We present results of our time variability studies of Mg II and Al III absorption lines in a sample of 22 Low Ionization Broad Absorption Line QSOs (LoBAL QSOs) at 0.2 <= zem <= 2.1 using the 2m telescope at IUCAA Girawali Observatory over…
Fermi has provided the largest sample of {\gamma}-ray selected blazars to date. In this work we use a complete sample of FSRQs detected during the first year of operation to determine the luminosity function (LF) and its evolution with…
The present status of the ESO key-programme ``A Homogeneous Bright QSO Survey'' is described together with the first results concerning the QSO counts and the optical luminosity function. The related analysis of the evolution of the radio…