THE EXTRAORDINARY MID-INFRARED SPECTRAL PROPERTIES OF FeLoBAL QUASARS
- Astronomy Centre, University of Sussex, Brighton (United Kingdom)
- Spitzer Science Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (United States)
- Physics Department, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY 13323 (United States)
- Observatorio Astronomico de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciencias, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-018 Lisbon (Portugal)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6396 (United States)
We present mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectra of six FeLoBAL quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) at 1 < z < 1.8, taken with the Spitzer Space Telescope. The spectra span a range of shapes, from hot dust-dominated active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with silicate emission at 9.7 {mu}m to moderately obscured starbursts with strong polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission. The spectrum of one object, SDSS 1214-0001, shows the most prominent PAHs yet seen in any QSO at any redshift, implying that the starburst dominates the mid-IR emission with an associated star formation rate on the order of 2700 M{sub sun} yr{sup -1}. With the caveats that our sample is small and not robustly selected, we combine our mid-IR spectral diagnostics with previous observations to propose that FeLoBAL QSOs are at least largely comprised of systems in which (1) a merger-driven starburst is ending, (2) a luminous AGN is in the last stages of burning through its surrounding dust, and (3) we may be viewing over a restricted line-of-sight range.
- OSTI ID:
- 21455216
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 717, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/717/2/868; ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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