We report on a systematic investigation of the Hbeta and Fe II emission lines in a sample of 568 quasars within z < 0.8 selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The conventional broad Hbeta emission line can be decomposed into two components--one with intermediate velocity width and another with very broad width. The velocity shift and equivalent width of the intermediate-width component do not correlate with those of the very broad component of Hbeta, but its velocity shift and width do resemble Fe II. Moreover, the width of the very broad component is roughly 2.5 times that of the intermediate-width component. These characteristics strongly suggest the existence of an intermediate-line region, whose kinematics seem to be dominated by infall, located at the outer portion of the broad-line region.
We present near-infrared (observed frame) spectra of the high-redshift quasar S4 0636+68 at z=3.2 which was previously thought to be one of a group of ``strong'' Fe II emitters [i.e., F(Fe II 4434-4684)/F(Hbeta) > 1]. Our K-band spectrum clearly shows emission lines of Hbeta and [O III]4959, 5007 as well as optical Fe II emission. Our computed value of F(Fe II 4434-4684)/F(Hbeta) ~ 0.8 for S4 0636+68 is less than previously thought, and in fact is comparable to values found for radio-loud, flat-spectrum, low-z quasars. Therefore S4 0636+68 appears not to be a strong optical Fe II emitter. Alth…
[Abridged] We present new VLT ISAAC spectra for 30 quasars, which we combine with previous data to yield a sample of 53 intermediate redshift (z ~ 0.9 - 3.0) sources. The sample is used to explore properties of prominent lines in the Hbeta spectral region of these very luminous quasars. We find two major trends: (1) a systematic increase of minimum FWHM Hbeta with luminosity (discussed in a previous paper). This lower FWHM envelope is best fit assuming that the narrowest sources radiate near the Eddington limit, show line emission from a virialized cloud distribution, and obey a well defined b…
We report the discovery of a possible close binary system of quasars in SDSS J1048+0055. The [OIII]4959,5007 emission lines are clearly double-peaked, and two discrete radio sources with a projected physical separation of ~20 pc are found in the VLBA milliarcsec resolution image at 8.4 GHz. Each of the [O III]4959,5007 doublets and Hbeta can be well modelled by two Gaussians and the line ratio, [O III]5007/Hbeta ~7, is typical of Seyfert 2 galaxies. No broad component of Hbeta was detected and its [O III]5007 luminosity, L_[OIII] ~ 9.2 times 10^42 erg s^-1, is comparable to luminous quasars an…
We study the geometry of the Hbeta broad emission region by comparing the M_BH values derived from Hbeta through the virial relation with those obtained from the host galaxy luminosity in a sample of 36 low redshift (z around 0.3) quasars. This comparison lets us infer the geometrical factor f needed to de-project the line-of-sight velocity component of the emitting gas. The wide range of f values we found, together with the strong dependence of f on the observed line width, suggests that a disc-like model for the broad line region is preferable to an isotropic model, both for radio loud and r…
We searched for the presence of extended emission-line regions (EELRs) around low-redshift QSOs. We observed a sample of 20 mainly radio-quiet low-redshift quasars (z<0.3) by means of integral field spectroscopy. After decomposing the extended and nuclear emission components, we constructed [OIII] 5007 narrow-band images of the EELR to measure the total flux. From the same data we obtained high S/N (>50) nuclear spectra to measure properties such as [OIII]/Hbeta flux ratios, FeII equivalent widths and Hbeta line widths. A significant fraction of the quasars (8/20) show a luminous EELR, with de…
We present the results of deep VLT-ISAAC Ks-band imaging of four z~1.5 flat-spectrum quasars selected from the Parkes half-Jansky flat spectrum sample. We find that the hosts of these flat-spectrum quasars are consistent with lying on the K-z Hubble relation for radio galaxies. This implies that the flat-spectrum quasar hosts fall in line with the expectations from orientation based unified schemes and also that they contain black holes of similar mass. Moreover, the width of the Hbeta broad emission line in these objects tends to be narrower than in their misaligned (low-frequency selected qu…
Broad Fe II emission is a prominent feature of the optical and ultraviolet spectra of quasars. We report on a systematical investigation of optical Fe II emission in a large sample of 4037 z < 0.8 quasars selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We have developed and tested a detailed line-fitting technique, taking into account the complex continuum and narrow and broad emission-line spectrum. Our primary goal is to quantify the velocity broadening and velocity shift of the Fe II spectrum in order to constrain the location of the Fe II-emitting region and its relation to the broad-line regi…
We report identification of the radio loud narrow-line quasar SDSS J172206.03+565451.6 which we found in the course of a search for radio loud narrow-line Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). SDSSJ172206.03+565451.6 is only the ~4th securely identified radio loud narrow-line quasar and the second-most radio loudest with a radio index R_1.4 ~ 100-700. Its black hole mass, M_BH = (2-3) 10^7 M_sun, is unusually small given its radio loudness, and the combination of mass and radio index puts SDSSJ172206.03+565451.6 in a scarcely populated region of M_BH-R diagrams. SDSSJ172206.03+565451.6 is a classical …
We present an optical and X-ray study of the quasar QSO 0117-2837. It exhibits an interesting combination of optical and X-ray properties: Despite its extremely steep observed X-ray spectrum (Gamma_x ~ -4 when fit by a simple powerlaw), its Balmer lines are fairly broad. A two-component Gaussian fit to H_beta yields FWHM_{Hbeta, broad} ~ 4000 km/s, and places QSO 0117-2837 in the `zone of avoidance' in the FWHM_{Hbeta}-Gamma_x diagram. A time variability analysis shows that QSO 0117-2837 is another case of Narrow-line Sy1 galaxy (NLSy1 hereafter) which does not show any X-ray variability durin…
New observations of the broad-line quasar PG1416-129 reveal a large decline in its continuum luminosity over the past ten years. In response to the continuum change the ``classical'' broad component of Hbeta has almost completely disappeared (a x10 decrease in flux). In its place there remains a redshifted/redward asymmetric very broad emission line component. The significance of this change is multifold: (1) It confirms the existence of a distinct redshifted Very Broad Line Region (VBLR) component that persists after the demise of the broad component and that is frequently observed, along wit…
We present spectroscopic observations of the quasar PG~1512+370, covering the Hbeta line spectral range and collected at moderate resolution (2-7 A FWHM) from 1988 to 1996. The observations show that the blue wing of the Hbeta broad profile component has changed significantly in flux and shape between 1988 and 1990 and between 1995 and 1996. A displaced blue peak on the Hbeta profile, visible in 1988, but not in the 1990-1995 spectra, is revealed again in one of the spectra obtained in 1996. The blue peak (in both the 1988 and 1996 spectra) is centered at Delta v_r ~ -3000 +/- 500 km/s from th…
We present an X-ray spectral analysis of 21 low redshift quasars observed with XMM-Newton EPIC. All the sources are Palomar Green quasars with redshifts between 0.05 and 0.4 and have low Galactic absorption along the line-of-sight. A large majority of quasars in the sample (19/21) exhibit a significant soft excess below ~1-1.5keV, whilst two objects (PG1114+445 and IZw1) show a deficit of soft X-ray flux due to the presence of a strong warm absorber. At least half of the objects appear to harbor a warm absorber, as found previously in Seyfert 1 galaxies. We find significant detections of FeKal…
Interactions between the radio jet and the optical emission of the narrow-line region (NLR) are a well known phenomenon in Seyfert galaxies. Here, we present the study of possible jet-NLR interactions in five radio-quiet PG quasars with double or triple radio structure. High spatial and spectral resolution observations were carried out in the Hbeta-[OIII]5007 wavelength range. In all cases, there is evidence for [OIII] profile substructure (shoulders, subpeaks, blueshifted ''broad'' components) with different clarity. To measure the velocity, line width, intensity, and location of these [OIII]…
We derive black hole masses for a sample of about 300 AGNs in the redshift range 0 < z < 2.5. We use the same virial velocity measure (FWHM Hbeta broad component) for all sources which represents a significant improvement over previous studies. We review methods and caveats for determining AGN black hole masses via the virial assumption for motions in the gas producing low ionization broad emission lines. We derive a corrected FWHM measure for the broad component of H-beta that better estimates the virialized line emitting component by comparing our FWHM measures with a sample of reverberated …
I report the discovery of blueshifted broad absorption line (BAL) troughs in at least six transitions of the Balmer series of hydrogen (Hbeta to H9) and in CaII, MgII and excited FeII in the quasar SDSS J125942.80+121312.6. This is only the fourth active galactic nucleus known to exhibit Balmer absorption, all four in conjunction with low-ionization BAL systems containing excited Fe II. The substantial population in the n=2 shell of H I in this quasar's absorber likely arises from Ly-alpha trapping. In an absorber sufficiently optically thick to show Balmer absorption, soft X-rays from the qua…
We have performed quasi-simultaneous radio flux density measurements at 2.7 and 10 GHz for all PG quasars with radio flux densities between 4-200 mJy. We find that a large fraction of these sources are variable, flat-spectrum quasars. This brings the total fraction of flat-spectrum quasars with a ratio between radio and optical flux of R>10 - a value previously used to define a radio-loud quasar - to 40% in the PG quasar sample. We also find that the median R-parameter of these flat-spectrum quasars is lower than those of steep-spectrum radio-loud quasars. This contradicts the predictions of t…
The nature of the optical--radio correlations for powerful radio galaxies is investigated using spectroscopic observations of a complete sample of southern 2Jy radio sources. In line with previous work, we find that significant correlations exist between the luminosities of the [OIII]5007, [OII]3727 and Hbeta emission lines and the radio luminosity. However, our observations are not easily reconciled with the idea that these correlations are caused by the increase in the power of the photoionizing quasar as the jet power increases, with average ISM properties not changing appreciably with reds…
Whether radio intermediate quasars possess relativistic jets as radio-loud quasars is an important issue in the understanding of the origin of radio emission in quasars. In this letter, using the two-epoch radio data obtained during Faint Image of Radio Sky at Twenty centimeter sky (FIRST) and NOAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS), we identify 89 radio variable sources in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Among them, more than half are radio intermediate quasars (RL=f2cm/f2500A<250). For all objects with available multiple band radio observations, the radio spectra are either flat or inverted. The brightness…
We present four improved empirical relationships useful for estimating the central black hole mass in nearby AGNs and distant luminous quasars alike using either optical or UV single-epoch spectroscopy. These mass-scaling relationships between line widths and luminosity are based on recently improved empirical relationships between the broad-line region size and luminosities in various energy bands and are calibrated to the improved mass measurements of nearby AGNs based on emission-line reverberation mapping. The mass-scaling relationship based on the Hbeta line luminosity allows mass estimat…
Anticipating new spectroscopic studies of quasar companions, we calculate expected emission line spectra for the companion galaxies. Under the assumption of isotropic photoionizing radiation, we predict equivalent widths for Halpha, Hbeta, [O III], [O II], [Ne III], and Mg II lines. We consider 6 quasars, two of which (PKS 2135-14 and PKS 2349-014) have very close companions with projected separation < 4 h^{-1} kpc. For these companions the calculated emission lines should be easily observable, with W_lambda > 20 AA for the [O III], [O II], and Halpha lines. Presence of strong emission lines f…
We present VLBI (EVN+MERLIN) observations of a sample of three low-redshift radio-intermediate PG quasars (RIQ) with flat and variable radio spectrum (III Zw 2, PG 1309+355, PG 2209+184). Their radio-to-optical flux ratio (R) is slightly lower than the average R for steep-spectrum quasars, but their radio spectral properties are those of core-dominated quasars. It was proposed previously that these sources might be relativistically boosted jets in radio-weak quasars. Our VLBI observations now indeed confirm the presence of a high brightness temperature core in all three of these objects --- tw…
We present the results of adaptive-optics imaging in the H and K bands of 12 low and intermediate redshift (z<0.6) quasars using the PUEO system mounted on the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope. Five quasars are radio-quiet and seven are radio-loud. The images, obtained under poor seeing conditions, and with the QSOs (mV>15.0) themselves as reference for the correction, have typical spatial resolution of FWHM~0.3 arcsec before deconvolution. The deconvolved H-band image of PG1700+514 has a spatial resolution of 0.16 arcsec and reveals a wealth of details on the companion and the host-galaxy. Four…
We have made a survey of quasar environments at 0.5 < z < 0.8, using a sample of both radio-loud and radio-quiet quasars matched in B-band luminosity. Our observations include images of background control fields to provide a good determination of the field galaxy counts. About 10 per cent of the quasars appear to live in rich clusters, whereas approximately 45 per cent live in environments similar to that of field galaxies. The richness of galaxies within a 0.5 Mpc radius around the radio-quiet quasars is found to be indistinguishable from the richness around the radio-loud quasars, correspond…
We present high S/N spectra of the H-beta region in 17 intermediate redshift (0.85 le z le 2.5) quasars. The spectra represent first results of our campaign to test the redshift/luminosity robustness of the so-called Eigenvector 1 (E1) parameter space as developed for low redshift AGN in Sulentic et al. (2000). The new quasars span the luminosity range -26 ge M_B ge -29 while most of our low redshift sample (n=215) involve sources in the range -19 ge M_B ge -26. The high redshift sources show E1 parameter values and domain occupation that are similar to our low redshift sample supporting earli…
We have obtained optical intermediate resolution spectra (R = 3000) of the narrow-line quasars DMS 0059-0055 and PG 1543+489. The [O III] emission line in DMS 0059-0055 is blueshifted by 880 km/s relative to Hbeta. We also confirm that the [O III] emission line in PG 1543+489 has a relative blueshift of 1150 km/s. These two narrow-line quasars show the largest [O III] blueshifts known to date among type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The [O III] emission lines in both objects are broad (1000 - 2000 km/s) and those in DMS 0059-0055 show strong blue asymmetry. We interpret the large blueshift …
We have obtained H-band spectra of 32 luminous quasars at 2.0<z<2.5 with the Multiple Mirror Telescope. The sample contains 15 radio-loud quasars (RLQs) and 17 radio-quiet quasars (RQQs). We have measured emission line properties from the rest-frame wavelength range of approximately 4500-5500 Angstroms, by fitting the data with composite model spectra. Our analysis includes comparison of RLQs versus RQQs, as well as comparison between the broad-absorption-line quasar (BALQSO) and non-broad-absorption-line quasar (nonBALQSO) subsets of the RQQ sample. In addition, we calculated the complete cor…
We have computed the higher-order Balmer absorption line indices Hgamma and Hdelta (Worthey & Ottaviani 1997) for stellar population models with variable element ratios. The response of these indices to abundance ratio variations is taken from detailed line formation and model atmosphere calculations. We find that Hgamma and Hdelta, unlike Hbeta, are very sensitive to alpha/Fe ratio changes at super-solar metallicities. Both line indices increase significantly with increasing alpha/Fe ratio. This effect cannot be neglected when these line indices are used to derive the ages of metal-rich, unre…
(abridged) The radio-quiet quasar PG1416-129 (z=0.129) exhibits atypical optical and X-ray properties. Between 1990 and 2000, in response to its optical continuum decrease, the ``classical'' broad component of Hbeta almost completely disappeared, with a factor of 10 decrease in the line flux. In the X-ray band, this object was observed by Ginga in 1988 to have the hardest quasar photon index, with Gamma=1.1+/-0.1. We present an XMM/EPIC observation of PG1416-129 performed in July 2004. We analyze the time-averaged pn spectrum of this quasar, as well as perform time-resolved spectroscopy. We fi…
It has been shown that the luminosity of AGNs and the size of their broad line region obey a simple relation of the type R=a L^g, from faint Seyfert nuclei to bright quasars, allowing single-epoch determination of the central black hole mass M=b L^g D^2 from their luminosity L and width of H_beta emission line. Adopting this mass determination for cosmological studies requires the extrapolation to high z and L of a relation whose calibration relies so far on reverberation mapping measurements performed for L<10^46 erg/s and z<0.4. We initiated a campaign for the monitoring of a few luminous, i…
We present the results of near-infrared H-band (1.65 microns) imaging of 19 steep spectrum radio quasars (SSRQ) in the redshift range 0.5 < z < 1.0. This sample of SSRQs is matched with our previously studied complete sample of 20 flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQ) with respect to redshift and optical and radio luminosity. We are able to clearly detect the host galaxy in 10 (53 %) SSRQs and marginally in 6 (32 %) others, while the host remains unresolved in 3 (16 %) SSRQs. The galaxies hosting the SSRQs are large (average bulge scale-length R(e) = 9.0+-1.7 kpc) and luminous (average M(H) = -27…
Emission lines in quasars are believed to originate from a photoionized plasma. There are, however, some emission features which appear to be collisionally excited, such as the FeII multiplet bands. Shortward of Ly_alpha, there also are a few permitted lines of species from low to intermediate ionization. Ton 34 (z=1.928) exhibits the steepest far-UV continuum decline known (Fnu propto nu^{-5.3}) shortward of 1050A. This object also emits unusually strong low to intermediate excitation permitted lines shortward of the Lyman limit. Using archive spectra of Ton 34 from HST, IUE and Palomar, we m…
We extend the study of the nuclei of 3CR objects as seen with the HST to higher redshift FR II radio sources (0.4<z<0.6). Our results reflect what has been found for FR II of lower redshift. The position of the nuclei on the plane formed by optical and radio luminosities is related to their optical spectral classification: the nuclei of both high and low excitation galaxies lie on the correlation found for FRI sources, while broad-lined objects have a significant optical excess. The nuclear properties of these sources are better understood when considering the equivalent width of the [OIII] em…
We present near-infrared H-band imaging of 15 intermediate redshift (0.5<z<1) radio quiet quasars (RQQ) in order to characterize the properties of their host galaxies. We are able to clearly detect the surrounding nebulosity in 12 objects, whereas the object remains unresolved in three cases. For all the resolved objects, we find that the host galaxy is well represented by a de Vaucouleurs r^{1/4} surface brightness law. This is the first reasonably sized sample of intermediate redshift RQQs studied in the near-infrared. The RQQ host galaxies are luminous (average M_H=-26.3+-0.6) and large gia…
Results are presented from the first detailed spectroscopic observations of the recently identified intermediate polar RXJ0028.8+5917/V709 Cas. The study of the emission line radial velocities allows us to remove the uncertainties on the different aliases of the orbital period and a best value is found at (0.2225 +/- 0.0002) day. It is also found that the system shows significant EW~ (2-4)A, broad absorptions affecting the Balmer lines from Hdelta to Hbeta. These broad absorptions are interpreted as the contribution of an underlying white dwarf atmosphere. The characteristics of the absorption…
This paper presents infrared spectra taken with the newly commissioned NIRSPEC spectrograph on the Keck II Telescope of the High Redshift Radio Galaxy MRC 2025-218 (z=2.63) These observations represent the deepest infrared spectra of a radio galaxy to date and have allowed for the detection of Hbeta, [OIII] (4959/5007), [OI] (6300), Halpha, [NII] (6548/6583) and [SII] (6716/6713). The Halpha emission is very broad (FWHM = 9300 km/s) and luminous (2.6x10^44 ergs/s) and it is very comparable to the line widths and strengths of radio loud quasars at the same redshift. This strongly supports AGN u…
We present the optical and UV emission line properties of 160 X-ray selected AGN taken from the RIXOS survey (including Halpha, Hbeta, [OIII]5007, MgII2798 and CIII]1909). This sample is believed to contain a mixture of absorbed and unabsorbed objects, with column densities up to 4e21 cm-2. Although the distribution of the [OIII] EW for the RIXOS AGN is typical of optically selected samples, the Balmer line EWs are relatively low. This is consistent with the presence of a dust absorber between the broad and narrow line regions (eg. a molecular torus), and intrinsically weak optical line emissi…
We report the first detailed spectroscopic observations of the recently identified intermediate polar RXJ0028.8+5917/V709 Cas. We discovered that the system shows significant EW ~ (2-4)A broad absorptions, affecting the Balmer lines from Hdelta to Hbeta. These broad absorptions are interpreted as the contribution of an underlying DA logg=8 white dwarf at a temperature of ~ 23 000 K, contributing ~ 17 % (at 4500 A) to the overall flux. This is the first direct detection of a white dwarf in an intermediate polar system. The absence of significant Zeeman splitting indicates a magnetic field lower…
We present 40 quasar absorption line systems at intermediate redshifts (z~1), with focus on one of the most kinematically complex known, as examples of how the unique capabilities of space-based and ground-based facilities can be combined to glean much broader insights into astrophysical systems.
We present new hard X-ray spectra of three radio-loud AGNs of moderately high X-ray luminosity (L_x ~ 10^45 erg/s; PKS 2349-01, 3C 323.1, and 4C 74.26) obtained with ASCA and BeppoSAX. The X-ray continua are described in all three cases with a power law model with photon indices of Gamma~1.85, modified at low energies by absorption in excess of the Galactic, which appears to be due to neutral gas. At higher energies, an Fe Ka emission line is detected in PKS 2349-01 and 4C 74.26, and is tentatively detected in 3C 323.1. The equivalent widths of the lines are consistent, albeit within large unc…
We present the observation of a new intermediate redshift damped Lyman-alpha absorption system candidate, discovered in the course of a spectroscopic follow-up for identifying the sources detected in a 150 A wide bandpass UV-imaging survey at 2000 A. The system displays very strong MgII and FeII lines and a high FeII/MgII ratio, which, following photoionization models, indicates a very high neutral hydrogen column density. Such kind of systems being very rare at redshifts <1.7, but of prime importance for understanding the evolution of star formation in galaxies, the newly discovered candidate…
We used ultraviolet spectra from HST/STIS (R=30,000), together with optical spectra from Keck/HIRES (R=45,000), to study the three MgII-selected absorption systems at z=0.9254, 0.9276, and 0.9342 toward the quasar PG 1206+459. A multi-phase gaseous structure, with low-ionization components produced in small condensations and high-ionization ones in diffuse clouds, is indicated in all three systems. Each system is likely to represent a different galaxy with absorption due to some combination of interstellar medium, coronal gas, halo gas, and high-velocity clouds. Even with the improved sensitiv…
