High-redshift Extreme Variability Quasars from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Multiepoch Spectroscopy

We perform a systematic search for high-redshift ( 1.5) extreme variability quasars (EVQs) using repeat spectra from the Sixteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which provides a baseline spanning up to ∼18 yr in the observed frame. We compile a sample of 348 EVQs with a maximum conti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2020-12, Vol.905 (1), p.52
Main Authors: Guo, Hengxiao, Peng, Jiacheng, Zhang, Kaiwen, Burke, Colin J., Liu, Xin, Sun, Mouyuan, Wang, Shu, Kong, Minzhi, Sheng, Zhenfeng, Wang, Tinggui, He, Zhicheng, Gu, Minfeng
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accretion
Active galactic nuclei
Astrophysics
Black hole physics
Calibration
Deposition
Emission lines
Line spectra
Luminosity
Quasars
Red shift
Sky surveys (astronomy)
Spectroscopy
Spectrum analysis
Time domain astronomy
Variability
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Summary:We perform a systematic search for high-redshift ( 1.5) extreme variability quasars (EVQs) using repeat spectra from the Sixteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which provides a baseline spanning up to ∼18 yr in the observed frame. We compile a sample of 348 EVQs with a maximum continuum variability at rest frame 1450 of more than 100% (i.e., δV (Max − Min)/Mean > 1). The EVQs show a range of emission-line variability, including 23 where at least one line in our redshift range disappears below detectability, which can then be seen as analogous to low-redshift changing-look quasars (CLQs). Importantly, spurious CLQs caused by problematic SDSS spectral flux calibration, e.g., fiber-drop issue, have been rejected. The similar properties (e.g., continuum/line, difference-composite spectra and Eddington ratio) of normal EVQs and CLQs imply that they are basically the same physical population with analogous intrinsic variability mechanisms, as a tail of a continuous distribution of normal quasar properties. In addition, we find no reliable evidence ( 1 ) to support that CLQs are a subset of EVQs with less efficient accretion. Finally, we also confirm the antibreathing of C iv (i.e., the line width increases as luminosity increases) in EVQs and find that in addition to the ∼0.4 dex systematic uncertainty in single-epoch C iv virial black hole mass estimates, an extra scatter of ∼0.3 dex will be introduced by extreme variability.
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.3847/1538-4357/abc2ce