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Title: The dust, nebular emission, and dependence on QSO radio properties of the associated Mg II absorption line systems

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal
 [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. CSIR Emeritus Scientist, IUCAA, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411007 (India)
  2. Physics Department, St. Vincent College, Latrobe, PA 15650 (United States)
  3. School of Astronomy, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), P.O. Box 19395-5531, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

We studied dust reddening and [O II] emission in 1730 Mg II associated absorption systems (AAS; relative velocity with respect to QSOs, ≤3000 km s{sup –1}; in units of velocity of light, β, ≤0.01) with 0.4 ≤z {sub abs} ≤ 2 in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR7, focusing on their dependence on the radio and other QSO properties. We used control samples, several with matching radio properties, to show that (1) AAS in radio-detected (RD) QSOs cause 2.6 ± 0.2 times higher dust extinction than those in radio-undetected (RUD) ones, which in turn cause 2.9 ± 0.7 times the dust extinction in the intervening systems; (2) AAS in core-dominated QSOs cause 2.0 ± 0.1 times higher dust extinction than those in lobe-dominated QSOs; (3) the occurrence of AAS is 2.1 ± 0.2 times more likely in RD QSOs than in RUD QSOs and 1.8 ± 0.1 time more likely in QSOs having black holes with masses larger than 1.23 × 10{sup 9} M {sub ☉} than in those with lower-mass black holes; and (4) there is excess flux in [O II]λ3727 emission in the composite spectra of the AAS samples compared with those of the control samples, which is at the emission redshift. The presence of AAS enhances the O II emission from the active galactic nucleus and/or the host galaxy. This excess is similar for both RD and RUD samples and is 2.5 ± 0.4 times higher in lobe-dominated samples than in core-dominated samples. The excess depends on the black hole mass and Eddington ratio. All these point to the intrinsic nature of the AAS except for the systems with z {sub abs} > z {sub em}, which could be infalling galaxies.

OSTI ID:
22370464
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 794, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English