STRONG RESPONSE OF THE VERY BROAD H{beta} EMISSION LINE IN THE LUMINOUS RADIO-QUIET QUASAR PG 1416-129

Journal Article · Sun Nov 20 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/742/1/L12· OSTI ID:22047353

Wang, J; Li, Y ^[1]

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1. National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing (China)

We report new spectroscopic observations performed in 2010 and 2011 for the luminous radio-quiet quasar PG 1416-129. Our new spectra with high quality cover both H{beta} and H{alpha} regions, and show negligible line profile variation within a timescale of one year. The two spectra allow us to study the variability of the Balmer line profile by comparing the spectra with previous ones taken at 10 and 20 years ago. By decomposing the broad Balmer emission lines into two Gaussian profiles, our spectral analysis suggests a strong response to the continuum level for the very broad component, and significant variations in both bulk blueshift velocity/FWHM and flux for the broad component. The new observations additionally indicate flat Balmer decrements (i.e., too strong H{beta} emission) at the line wings, which is hard to reproduce using recent optically thin models. With these observations we argue that a separate inner optically thin emission-line region might not be necessary in the object to reproduce the observed line profiles.

• OSTI ID: 22047353
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 742, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
BALMER LINES
EMISSION SPECTRA
EMISSION SPECTROSCOPY
GALAXIES
QUASARS
VARIATIONS
VELOCITY