Co-variability Between the Broad Absorption Lines and Narrow Absorption Lines

We investigate the relationship between the variability of broad absorption lines(BALs)or narrow absorption lines(NALs)and that of continuum using a data set of two-epoch SDSS spectra containing 134 C IV NAL-BAL pairs.Our analysis reveals an anti-correlation between the fractional equivalent width(EW)variations in NALs(or BALs)and the fractional flux variations of the continuum,with Spearman rank correlation coefficients of r=-0.47(p=1E-08)and r=-0.58(p=1E-13),respectively.In addition,we find a positive correlation between the fractional EW variations in NALs and BALs(r=0.72,p=1E-22),and derive a regression equation ΔEW_(NAL)/<EW_(NAL)>=0.803ΔEW_(BAL)/<EW_(BAL)>+0.008,with an intrinsic scatter of 0.14.These results suggest that the variability in the ionizing continuum may play a significant role in the observed changes in C IV NALs and BALs,supporting the idea of photoionization-driven variability.The co-variability between C IV NALs and BALs may imply that they originate from outflows with similar physical conditions.

Relations between the Fractional Variation of the Ionizing Continuum and CⅣBroad Absorption Lines with Different Ionization Levels

This paper explores the correlation between the fractional variation of the ionizing continuum and CⅣbroad absorption lines(BALs)with different ionization levels.Our results reveal anti-correlations between fractional variation of the continuum and fractional equivalency width(EW)variation of the CⅣB ALs without AlⅢB AL/mini-BALs at corresponding velocities,providing evidence for the widespread influence of the ionizing continuum variability on the variation of HiBALs.Conversely,for CⅣBALs accompanied by AlⅢBAL/mini-BALs(LoBAL groups),no significant correction is detected.The absence of such a correlation does not rule out the possibility that variations in these low-ionization lines are caused by ionizing continuum variability,but rather suggests the influence of B AL saturation to some extent.This saturation effect is reflected in the distribution of the fractional EW variation,where the CⅣBAL group accompanied by AlⅢBAL has a smaller standard deviation for the best-fitting Gaussian component than the two BAL groups without AlⅢB AL.However,the distribution of fractional variation of their continuum does not show any significant difference.Besides the saturation influence,another potential explanation for the lack of correlations in the LoBAL groups may be the effects of other variability mechanisms besides the ionization change,such as clouds transiting across the line of sight.

Discovery of Balmer broad absorption lines in the quasar LBQS 1206+1052

We report the discovery of Balmer broad absorption lines （BALs） in the quasar LBQS 1206＋1052 and present a detailed analysis of the peculiar absorption line spectrum. Besides the Mg II λλ2796, 2803 doublet, BALs are also detected in the He I＊ multiplet at λλ2946, 3189, 3889 A arising from the metastable helium 2 3 S level, and in Hα and Hβ from the excited hydrogen H I＊ n = 2 level, which are rarely seen in quasar spectra. We identify two components in the BAL troughs of v ～ 2000 km s 1 width： One component shows an identical profile in H I＊, He I＊ and Mg II with its centroid blueshifted by v c ≈ 726 km s-1 . The other component is detected in He I＊ and Mg II with v c ≈ 1412 km s-1 . We estimate the column densities of H I＊, He I＊, and Mg II, and compare them with possible level population mechanisms. Our results favor the scenario that the Balmer BALs originate in a partially ionized region with a column density of N H ～ 10 21 10 22 cm-2 for an electron density of n e ～ 10 6 10 8 cm-3 via Lyα resonant scattering pumping. The harsh conditions needed may help to explain the rarity of Balmer absorption line systems in quasar spectra. With an i-band PSF magnitude of 16.50, LBQS 1206＋1052 is the brightest Balmer-BAL quasar ever reported. Its high brightness and unique spectral properties make LBQS 1206＋1052 a promising candidate for followup high-resolution spectroscopy, multi-band observations, and long-term monitoring.

Doppler radial velocity detection based on Doppler asymmetric spatial heterodyne spectroscopy technique for absorption lines

Doppler asymmetric spatial heterodyne spectroscopy(DASH)technique has developed rapidly in passive Doppler-shift measurements of atmospheric emission lines over the last decade.With the advantages of high phase shift sensitivity,compact,and rugged structure,DASH is proposed to be used for celestial autonomous navigation based on Doppler radial velocity measurement in this work.Unlike atmospheric emission lines,almost all targeted lines in the research field of deep-space exploration are the absorption lines of stars,so a mathematical model for the Doppler-shift measurements of absorption lines with a DASH interferometer is established.According to the analysis of the components of the interferogram received by the detector array,we find that the interferogram generated only by absorption lines in a passband can be extracted and processed by a method similar to the approach to studying the emission lines.In the end,numerical simulation experiments of Doppler-shift measurements of absorption lines are carried out.The simulation results show that the relative errors of the retrieved speeds are less than 0.7%under ideal conditions,proving the feasibility of measuring Doppler shifts of absorption lines by DASH instruments.

Saturated absorption spectrum of cesium micrometric-thin cell with suppressed crossover spectral lines

Micrometric-thin cells(MCs)with alkali vapor atoms have been valuable for research and applications of hyperfine Zeeman splitting and atomic magnetometers under strong magnetic fields.We theoretically and experimentally study the saturated absorption spectra using a 100-μm cesium MC,where the pump and probe beams are linearly polarized with mutually perpendicular polarizations,and the magnetic field is along the pump beam.Because of the distinctive thin chamber of the MC,crossover spectral lines in saturated absorption spectra are largely suppressed leading to clear splittings of hyperfine Zeeman transitions in experiments,and the effect of spatial magnetic field gradient is expected to be reduced.A calculation method is proposed to achieve good agreements between theoretical calculations and experimental results.This method successfully explains the suppression of crossover lines in MCs,as well as the effects of magnetic field direction,propagation and polarization directions of the pump/probe beam on saturated absorption spectrum.The saturated absorption spectrum with suppressed crossover lines is used for laser frequency stabilization,which may provide the potential value of MCs for high spatial resolution strong-field magnetometry with high sensitivity.

Eight new quasars discovered by the Guoshoujing Telescope (LAMOST) in one extragalactic field

We report the discovery of eight new quasars in one extragalactic field （a five-degree field centered at RA=08^h58^m08.2^s, Dec=01°32′29.7″） with the Guoshoujing Telescope （LAMOST） commissioning observations made on 2009 December 18. These quasars, with i magnitudes from 16.44 to 19.34 and redshifts from 0.898 to 2.773, were not identified in the SDSS spectroscopic survey, though six of them with redshifts less than 2.5 were selected as quasar targets in SDSS. Except for one source without near-IR Y-band data, seven of these eight new quasars satisfy a newly proposed quasar selection criterion involving both near-IR and optical colors. Two of them were found in the ＇redshift desert＇ for quasars （z from 2.2 to 3）, indicating that the new criterion is efficient for uncovering missing quasars with similar optical colors to stars. Although LAMOST encountered some problems during the commissioning observations, we were still able to identify 38 other known SDSS quasars in this field, with i magnitudes from 16.24 to 19.10 and redshifts from 0.297 to 4.512. Our identifications imply that a substantial fraction of quasars may be miss- ing in previous quasar surveys. The implication of our results to the future LAMOST quasar survey is discussed.

New background quasars in the vicinity of the Andromeda Galaxy discovered with the Guoshoujing Telescope (LAMOST)

We present preliminary analyses of spectra of quasar candidates in two Guoshoujing Telescope （GSJT, formerly named the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope - LAMOST） test fields near M 31 where one is close to the optical center of the disk and the other is towards the northeastern outskirts of the halo, obtained during the early stage of the GSJT commissioning in the last season of 2009. Both fields contain background low-redshift quasar candidates selected from the SDSS photometry. In total, 14 new quasars with redshifts up to 2 and i magnitudes between 16.7 and 19.2, are discovered, including 7 within the 2.5° central region of M 31. We briefly discuss the potential applications of these newly discovered bright quasars.

Absorption linewidth inversion with wavelength modulation spectroscopy

For absorption linewidth inversion with wavelength modulation spectroscopy（WMS）, an optimized WMS spectral line fitting method was demonstrated to infer absorption linewidth effectively, and the analytical expressions for relationships between Lorentzian linewidth and the separations of first harmonic peak-to-valley and second harmonic zero-crossing were deduced. The transition of CO_2 centered at 4991.25 cm^（-1） was used to verify the optimized spectral fitting method and the analytical expressions. Results showed that the optimized spectra fitting method was able to infer absorption accurately and compute more than 10 times faster than the commonly used numerical fitting procedure. The second harmonic zero-crossing separation method calculated an even 6 orders faster than the spectra fitting without losing any accuracy for Lorentzian dominated cases. Additionally, linewidth calculated through second harmonic zero-crossing was preferred for much smaller error than the first harmonic peak-to-valley separation method. The presented analytical expressions can also be used in on-line optical sensing applications, electron paramagnetic resonance, and further theoretical characterization of absorption lineshape.

Discovery of a variable broad absorption line in the BL Lac object PKS B0138-097

We report the discovery of a broad absorption line （BAL） of - 10^4 km s^-1 in width in the previously known BL Lac object PKS 0138-097, which we tentatively identified as an Mg II BAL. This is the first detection of a BAL, which is sometimes seen in powerful quasars with high accretion rates, in a BL Lac object. The BAL was clearly detected in its spectra spanning two epochs at a high luminosity state taken in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey （SDSS）, while it disappeared in three SDSS spectra taken at a low luminosity state. The BAL and its variability pattern were also found in its historical multi-epoch spectra in the literature, but have been overlooked previously. In its high resolution radio maps, PKS 0138-097 shows a core plus a one- sided parsec-scale jet. The BAL variability can be interpreted as follows： The optical emission is dominated by the core in a high state and by the jet in a low state and the BAL material is located between the core and jet so that the BAL appears only when the core is shining. Our discovery suggests that outflows may also be produced in active galactic nuclei at a low accreting state.

Radio Luminosity,Black Hole Mass and Eddington Ratio for Quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

We investigate the MBH-σ＊ relation for radio-loud quasars with redshifl z 〈 0.83 in Data Release 3 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey （SDSS）. The sample consists of 3772 quasars with better models of the H/4 and [O Ⅲ] lines and available radio luminosity, including 306 radio-loud quasars, 3466 radio-quiet quasars with measured radio luminosity or upper-limit of radio luminosity （181 radio-quiet quasars with measured radio luminosity）. The virial supermassive black hole mass （MBH） is calculated from the broad Hβline, and the host stellar velocity dispersion （σ＊） is traced by the core [O Ⅲ] gaseous velocity dispersion. The radio luminosity and radio loudness are derived from the FIRST catalog. Our results are as follows： （1） For radio-quiet quasars, we confirm that there is no obvious deviation from the MBH-σ＊ relation defined for inactive galaxies when the uncertainties in ~IBH and the luminosity bias are concerned. （2） We find that the radio-loud quasars deviate more from the MBH-σ＊ relation than do the radio-quiet quasars. This deviation is only partly due to a possible cosmological evolution of the MBH-σ＊ relation and the luminosity bias. （3） The radio luminosity is proportional to MBH1.28＋0.23-0.16（LBol/LEdd） ^1.29＋0.31-0.24 for radio-quiet quasars and to -MBH3.10＋0.60-0.70（LBol/LEdd）^4.18＋1.40-1.10 - for radio-loud quasars. The weaker dependence of the radio luminosity on the mass and the Eddington ratio for radio-loud quasars shows that other physical effects would account for their radio luminosities, such as the spin of the black hole.

Discovery of six high-redshift quasars with the Lijiang 2.4 m telescope and the Multiple Mirror Telescope

Quasars with redshifts greater than 4 are rare, and can be used to probe the structure and evolution of the early universe. Here we report the discovery of six new quasars with i-band magnitudes brighter than 19.5 and redshifts between 2.4 and 4.6 from spectroscopy with the Yunnan Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera (YFOSC) at the Lijiang 2.4 m telescope in February, 2012. These quasars are in the list of z > 3.6 quasar candidates selected by using our proposed J K/i Y criterion and the photometric redshift estimations from the SDSS optical and UKIDSS near-IR photometric data. Nine candidates were observed by YFOSC, and five among six new quasars were identified as z > 3.6 quasars. One of the other three objects was identified as a star and the other two were unidentified due to the lower signal-to-noise ratio of their spectra. This is the first time that z > 4 quasars have been discovered using a telescope in China. Thanks to the Chinese Telescope Access Program (TAP), the redshift of 4.6 for one of these quasars was confirmed by the Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) Red Channel spectroscopy. The continuum and emission line properties of these six quasars, as well as their central black hole masses and Eddington ratios, were obtained.

A correction method for the telluric absorptions and application to Lijiang Observatory

Observing a telluric standard star for correcting the telluric absorption lines of spectrum will take a significant amount of precious telescope time,especially in the long-term spectral monitoring project.Beyond that,it is difficult to select a suitable telluric standard star near in both time and airmass to the scientific object.In this paper,we present a method of correcting the telluric absorption lines by combining the advantages of long slit spectroscopy.By rotating the slit,we observed the scientific object and a nearby comparison star in one exposure,so that the spectra of both objects should have the same telluric transmission spectrum.The telluric transmission spectrum was constructed by dividing the observed spectrum of the comparison star by its stellar template,and was used to correct the telluric absorption lines of the scientific object.Using the long slit spectrograph of the Lijiang 2.4-meter telescope,we designed a long-term spectroscopic observation strategy,and finished a four-year spectroscopic monitoring for a pair of objects(an active galactic nucleus and a non-varying comparison star).We applied this method to correct the telluric absorption lines of the long-term monitored spectra by the Lijiang 2.4-meter telescope,and investigated the variation of the telluric absorptions at Lijiang Observatory.We found that the telluric absorption transparency is mainly modulated by the seasonal variability of the relative humidity,airmass and seeing.Using the scatter of the [O Ⅲ] λ5007 fluxes emitted from the narrow-line region of active galactic nuclei as an indicator,we found that the correction accuracy of the telluric absorption lines is 1%.

The Mg_(Ⅱ)absorption line systems in quasar spectra from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope

Making use of quasar spectra from LAMOST,in the spectral data around the Mg_(Ⅱ)emission lines,research described in this paper has detected 217 Mg_(Ⅱ)narrow absorption lines(NALs)with W_(r)^(λ2796)≥3σ_(w)and W_(r)^(λ2803)≥2σ_(w)in a redshift range of 0.4554≤z_(abs)≤2.1110.For quasars observed by both LAMOST and SDSS,we find that 135 Mg_(Ⅱ)NALs were obviously observed in the LAMOST spectra,347 Mg_(Ⅱ)NALs were were apparent in the SDSS spectra,and 132 Mg_(Ⅱ)NALs were clearly present in both the SDSS and LAMOST spectra.The missed Mg_(Ⅱ)NALs are likely ascribed to low signal-to-noise ratios of corresponding spectra.Among the Mg 11 NALs obviously observed in SDSS or LAMOST spectra,eight Mg 11 NALs were significantly changed with|ΔW_(r)^(λ2796)|≥3σw in time intervals ofΔMJD/(1+z_(em))=359-2819 d.

Color-Redshift Relations and Photometric Redshift Estimations of Quasars in Large Sky Surveys

With a recently constructed composite quasar spectrum and the χ2 minimization technique, we describe a general method for estimating the photometric redshifts of a large sample of quasars by deriving theoretical color-redshift relations and comparing the theoretical colors with the observed ones. We estimated the photometric redshifts from the 5-band SDSS photometric data of 18678 quasars in the first major data release of SDSS and compared them with their spectroscopic redshifts. The difference is less than 0.1 for 47 % of the quasars and less than 0.2 for 68 %. Based on the calculation of the theoretical color-color diagrams of stars, galaxies and quasars both on the SDSS system and on the BATC system, we expect that we would be able to select candidates of high redshift quasars more efficaciously with the latter than with the former, provided the BATC survey can detect objects with magnitudes fainter than 21.

Strong optical and UV intermediate-width emission lines in the quasar SDSS J232444.80–094600.3:dust-free and intermediate-density gas at the skin of dusty torus?

Emission lines from the broad emission line region （BELR） and the narrow emission line region （NELR） of active galactic nuclei （AGNs） have been extensively studied. However, emission lines are rarely detected between these two regions. We present a detailed analysis of quasar SDSS J232444.80-094600.3 （SDSS J2324-0946）, which is remarkable for its strong intermediate-width emission lines （IELs） with FWHM ≈ 1800 km s^-1. The IEL component is present in different emission lines, including the permitted lines Lyαλ1216, CⅣ λ1549, semiforbidden line C Ⅲ] λ1909, and forbidden lines [OⅢ] ss4959, 5007. With the aid of photo-ionization models, we found that the IELs are produced by gas with a hydrogen density of nH - 10^6.2 -- 10^6.3 cm^-3, a distance from the central ionizing source of R - 35 - 50 pc, a covering factor of - 6%, and a dust-to-gas ratio of ≤ 4% that of the SMC. We suggest that the strong IELs of this quasar are produced by nearly dust-free and intermediate-density gas located at the skin of the dusty torus. Such strong IELs, which serve as a useful diagnostic, can provide an avenue to study the properties of gas between the BELR and the NELR.

A broad absorption line outflow associated with the broad emission line region in the quasar SDSS J075133.35+134548.3

We report on the discovery of unusual broad absorption lines(BALs)in the bright quasar SDSS J075133.35+134548.3 at z~1,using archival and newly obtained optical and NIR spectroscopic data.The BALs are detected reliably in HeⅠ*λ3889,HeⅠ*λ10830 and tentatively in AlⅢ,MgⅡ.These BALs show complex velocity structures consisting of two major components:a high-velocity component(HV),with a blueshifted velocity range ofΔv_(HV)~9300--3500 km s^(-1),which can be reliably detected in HeⅠ*λ10830,and tentatively in AlⅢand MgⅡ,whereas it is undetectable in HeⅠ*λ3889;and a low-velocity component(LV),withΔv_(LV)~3500--1800 km s^(-1),is only detected in HeⅠ*λ3889 and HeⅠ*λ10830.With the BALs from different ions,the HV outflowing gas can be constrained to have a density of nH~10^(10.3)-10^(11.4) cm^(-3),a column density of NH~10^(21) cm^(-2)and an ionization parameter of U~10^(-1.83)-10^(-1.72);inferring a distance of RHV~0.5 pc from the central continuum source with a monochromatic luminosityλLλ(5100)=7.0×10^(45)erg s^(-1)at 5100 A.This distance is remarkably similar to that of the normal broad line region(BLR)estimated from reverberation experiments,suggesting association of the BLR and the HV BAL outflowing gas.Interestingly,a blueshifted component is also detected in AlⅢand MgⅡbroad emission lines(BELs),and the AlⅢ/MgⅡof such a BEL component can be reproduced by the physical parameters inferred from the HV BAL gas.The LV BAL gas likely has a larger column density,a higher ionization level and hence a smaller distance than the HV BAL gas.Further spectroscopy with a high S/N ratio and broader wavelength coverage is needed to confirm this to shed new light on the possible connection between BALs and BELs.

Origin and Properties of Strong MgII Quasar Absorption Line Systems

Strong MgII quasar absorption line systems provide us with a useful tool to understand the gas that plays an important role in galaxy formation. In this paper, placing the theories of galaxy formation in a cosmological context, we present semi-analytic models and Monte-Carlo simulations for strong MgII absorbers produced in gaseous galactic haloes and/or galaxy discs. We investigate the redshift path density for the MgII absorption lines and the properties of galaxy/absorber pairs, in particular the anti-correlation between the equivalent width of MgII absorption line and the projected galaxy-to-sightline distance. The simulated result of the mean redshift path density of strong MgII systems is consistent with the observational result. The fraction of strong MgII systems arising from galaxy disks is predicted to be ~ 10% of the total. There exists an anti-correlation between the absorption line equivalent and the projected distance of sightline to galaxy center and galaxy luminosity. We determined that the mean absorbing radius Rabs≈29 h-1 bpc(LB/LB*)0.35. After taking selection effects into consideration, this becomes Rabs ≈38 h-1 bpc(LB/LB*)0.18, which is in good agreement with the observational result. This shows the importance of considering selection effects when comparing models with observations.

The LAMOST survey of background quasars in the vicinity of M31 and M33–Ⅲ.results from the 2013 regular survey

In this work, we report new quasars discovered in fields in the vicinity of the Andromeda（M31） and Triangulum（M33） galaxies with the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope（LAMOST, also called the Guo Shou Jing Telescope） during the 2013 observational season, the second year of the regular survey. In total, 1330 new quasars are discovered in an area of ～133 deg2 around M31and M33. With i magnitudes ranging from 14.79 to 20.0 and redshifts from 0.08 to4.85, the 1330 new quasars represent a significant increase in the number of identified quasars in fields in the vicinity of M31 and M33. Up to now, there have been a total of 1870 quasars discovered by LAMOST in this area. The much enlarged sample of known quasars in this area can potentially be utilized to construct a precise astrometric reference frame for the measurement of minute proper motions of M31, M33 and their associated substructures, which are vital for understanding the formation and evolution of M31, M33 and the Local Group of galaxies. Moreover, in the sample,there are a total of 45, 98 and 225 quasars with i magnitudes brighter than 17.0, 17.5and 18.0 respectively. In the aforementioned brightness bins, 15, 35 and 84 quasars are reported here for the first time, and 6, 21 and 81 are reported in our pervious work. In addition, 0, 1 and 6 are from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and 24, 41 and 54 are from the NED database. These bright quasars provide an invaluable sample to study the kinematics and chemistry of the interstellar/intergalactic medium of the Local Group.

Absorption Line Profile Recovery Based on TDLS and MEMS Micro-Mirror for Photoacoustic Gas Sensing

A novel and efficient absorption line recovery technique is presented.A micro-electromechanical systems(MEMS) mirror driven by an electrothermal actuator is used to generate laser intensity modulation through the mirror reflection.Tunable diode laser spectroscopy(TDLS) and photoacoustic spectroscopy(PAS) are used to recover the target absorption line profile which is compared with the theoretical Voigt profile.The target gas is 0.01% acetylene(C2H2) in a nitrogen host gas.The laser diode wavelength is swept across the P17 absorption line of acetylene at 1 535.4 nm by a current ramp,and an erbium-doped fibre amplifier(EDFA) is used to enhance the optical intensity and increase the signal-to-noise ratio(SNR).A SNR of about 35 is obtained with 100 mW laser power from the EDFA.Good agreement is achieved between the experimental results and the theoretical simulation for the P17 absorption line profile.

Variations of broad emission lines from periodicity QSOs under the interpretation of supermassive binary black holes with misaligned circumbinary broad line regions

Quasars with periodic light curves are considered as candidates of supermassive binary black hole(BBH)systems.One way for further confirmations may be searching for other characteristic signatures,such as those in their broad emission lines(BELs),if any,which require a thorough understanding on the response of BELs to the BBH systems.In Ji et al.(2021),we have investigated the response of circumbinary broad line region(BLR)to the central active secondary black hole under the relativistic Doppler boosting(BBH-DB)and intrinsic variation(BBH-IntDB)dominant mechanisms for continuum variation by assuming the middle plane of the BLR aligned with the BBH orbital plane.In this paper,we explore how the BEL profiles vary when the BLR is misaligned from the BBH orbital plane with different offset angles under both the BBH-DB and BBH-IntDB scenarios.Given a fixed inclination angle of the BBH orbital plane viewed in edge-on and similar continuum light curves produced by the two scenarios,increasing offset angles make the initial opening angle of the circumbinary BLR enlarged due to orbital precession caused by the BBH system,especially for clouds in the inner region,which result in Lorentzlike BEL profiles for the BBH-DB model but still Gaussion-like profiles for the BBH-IntDB model at the vertical BLR case.The amplitude of profile variations decreases with increasing offset angles for the BBHDB scenario,while keeps nearly constant for the BBH-IntDB scenario,since the Doppler boosting effect is motion direction preferred but the intrinsic variation is radiated isotropically.If the circumbinary BLR is composed of a coplanar and a vertical components with their number of clouds following the mass ratio of the BBHs,then the bi-BLR features are more significant for the BBH-IntDB model that requires larger mass ratio to generate similar continuum variation than the BBH-DB model.