Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userProperties of X-ray selected Broad Absorption Line Quasars
110
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
Broad absorption line quasars (commonly termed BALQSOs) contain the most dramatic examples of AGN-driven winds. The high absorbing columns in these winds, ~10^24 cm^-2, ensure that BALQSOs are generally X-ray faint. This high X-ray absorption means that almost all BALQSOs have been discovered through optical surveys, and so what little we know about their X-ray properties is derived from very bright optically-selected sources. A small number of X-ray selected BALQSOs (XBALQSOs) have, however, recently been found in deep X-ray survey fields. In this paper we investigate the X-ray and rest-frame UV properties of five XBALQSOs for which we have obtained XMM-Newton EPIC X-ray spectra and deep optical imaging and spectroscopy. We find that, although the XBALQSOs have an alpha_ox steeper by ~0.5 than normal QSOs, their median alpha_ox is nevertheless flatter by 0.30 than that of a comparable sample of optically selected BALQSOs (OBALQSOs). We rule out the possibility that the higher X-ray to optical flux ratio is due to intrinsic optical extinction. We find that the amount of X-ray and UV absorption due to the wind in XBALQSOs is similar, or perhaps greater than, the corresponding wind absorption in OBALQSOs, so the flatter alpha_ox cannot be a result of weaker wind absorption. We conclude that these XBALQSOs have intrinsically higher X-ray to optical flux ratios than the OBALQSO sample with which we compare them.
rate research
Read More
We report spectropolarimetry of 30 radio-selected broad absorption line (BAL) quasars with the Keck Observatory, 25 from the sample of Becker et al. (2000). Both high and low-ionization BAL quasars are represented, with redshifts ranging from 0.5 to 2.5. The spectropolarimetric properties of radio-selected BAL quasars are very similar to those of radio-quiet BAL quasars: a sizeable fraction (20%) show large continuum polarization (2-10%) usually rising toward short wavelengths, emission lines are typically less polarized than the continuum, and absorption line troughs often show large polarization jumps. There are no significant correlations between polarization properties and radio properties, including those indicative of system orientation, suggesting that BAL quasars are not simply normal quasars seen from an edge-on perspective.
This work presents the results of a Chandra study of 21 broad absorption line (BAL) radio-loud quasars (RLQs). We conducted a Chandra snapshot survey of 12 bright BAL RLQs selected from SDSS/FIRST data and possessing a wide range of radio and CIV absorption properties. Optical spectra were obtained nearly contemporaneously with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope; no strong flux or BAL variability was seen between epochs. We also include in our sample 9 additional BAL RLQs possessing archival Chandra coverage. We compare the properties of (predominantly high-ionization) BAL RLQs to those of non-BAL RLQs as well as to BAL radio-quiet quasars (RQQs) and non-BAL RQQs for context. All 12 snapshot and 8/9 archival BAL RLQs are detected, with observed X-ray luminosities less than those of non-BAL RLQs having comparable optical/UV luminosities by typical factors of 4.1-8.5. (BAL RLQs are also X-ray weak by typical factors of 2.0-4.5 relative to non-BAL RLQs having both comparable optical/UV and radio luminosities.) However, BAL RLQs are not as X-ray weak relative to non-BAL RLQs as are BAL RQQs relative to non-BAL RQQs. While some BAL RLQs have harder X-ray spectra than typical non-BAL RLQs, some have hardness ratios consistent with those of non-BAL RLQs, and there does not appear to be a correlation between X-ray weakness and spectral hardness, in contrast to the situation for BAL RQQs. RLQs are expected to have X-ray continuum contributions from both disk-corona and small-scale jet emission. While the entire X-ray continuum in BAL RLQs cannot be obscured to the same degree as in BAL RQQs, we calculate that the jet is likely partially covered in many BAL RLQs. We comment briefly on implications for geometries and source ages in BAL RLQs.
We present combined $approx 14-37~rm ks$ Chandra observations of seven $z = 1.6-2.7$ broad absorption line (BAL) quasars selected from the Large Bright Quasar Survey (LBQS). These seven objects are high-ionization BAL (HiBAL) quasars, and they were undetected in the Chandra hard band ($2-8$ keV) in previous observations. The stacking analyses of previous Chandra observations suggested that these seven objects likely contain some candidates for intrinsically X-ray weak BAL quasars. With the new Chandra observations, six targets are detected. We calculate their effective power-law photon indices and hard-band flux weakness, and find that two objects, LBQS $1203+1530$ and LBQS $1442-0011$, show soft/steep spectral shapes ($Gamma_{rm eff}= 2.2^{+0.9}_{-0.9}$ and $1.9_{-0.8}^{+0.9}$) and significant X-ray weakness in the hard band (by factors of $approx$ 15 and 12). We conclude that the two HiBAL quasars are good candidates for intrinsically X-ray weak BAL quasars. The mid-infrared-to-UV spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of the two candidates are consistent with those of typical quasars. We constrain the fraction of intrinsically X-ray weak AGNs among HiBAL quasars to be $approx 7-10%$ ($2/29-3/29$), and we estimate it is $approx 6- 23%$ ($2/35-8/35$) among the general BAL quasar population. Such a fraction is considerably larger than the fraction among non-BAL quasars, and we suggest that intrinsically X-ray weak quasars are preferentially observed as BAL quasars. Intrinsically X-ray weak AGNs likely comprise a small minority of the luminous type 1 AGN population, and they should not affect significantly the completeness of these AGNs found in deep X-ray surveys.
A sample of 67 Broad Absorption Line quasars (BALQSOs) from the Large Bright Quasar Survey (LBQS) is used to estimate the observed and intrinsic fraction of BAL quasars in optically--selected samples at intermediate (B_J simeq 18.5) magnitudes. The observed BALQSO fraction in the redshift range 1.5 < z < 3.0 is 15pm3%. A well--determined, empirical, k--correction, to allow for the differences in the spectral energy distributions of non--BALQSOs and BALQSOs shortward of simeq 2100A in the restframe, is applied to the sample. The result is an estimate of the intrinsic fraction of BALQSOs, in the redshift range 1.5 < z < 3.0, of 22+/-4%. This value is twice that commonly cited for the occurrence of BALQSOs in optically--selected samples and the figure is in reasonable agreement with that from a preliminary analysis of the SDSS Early Data Release. The fraction of BALQSOs predicted to be present in an optical survey with flux limits equivalent to that of the FIRST Bright Quasar Survey (FBQS) is shown to be simeq 20%. The BALQSO fractions derived from the FBQS and the LBQS suggest that optically--bright BALQSOs are half as likely as non-BALQSOs to be detectable as S_1.4GHz > 1mJy radio sources.
We report NuSTAR observations of a sample of six X-ray weak broad absorption line (BAL) quasars. These targets, at z=0.148-1.223, are among the optically brightest and most luminous BAL quasars known at z<1.3. However, their rest-frame 2 keV luminosities are 14 to >330 times weaker than expected for typical quasars. Our results from a pilot NuSTAR study of two low-redshift BAL quasars, a Chandra stacking analysis of a sample of high-redshift BAL quasars, and a NuSTAR spectral analysis of the local BAL quasar Mrk 231 have already suggested the existence of intrinsically X-ray weak BAL quasars, i.e., quasars not emitting X-rays at the level expected from their optical/UV emission. The aim of the current program is to extend the search for such extraordinary objects. Three of the six new targets are weakly detected by NuSTAR with <45 counts in the 3-24 keV band, and the other three are not detected. The hard X-ray (8-24 keV) weakness observed by NuSTAR requires Compton-thick absorption if these objects have nominal underlying X-ray emission. However, a soft stacked effective photon index ({Gamma}~1.8) for this sample disfavors Compton-thick absorption in general. The uniform hard X-ray weakness observed by NuSTAR for this and the pilot samples selected with <10 keV weakness also suggests that the X-ray weakness is intrinsic in at least some of the targets. We conclude that the NuSTAR observations have likely discovered a significant population (>33%) of intrinsically X-ray weak objects among the BAL quasars with significantly weak <10 keV emission. We suggest that intrinsically X-ray weak quasars might be preferentially observed as BAL quasars.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
