A Catalog of Broad Absorption Line Quasars in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5

We present a catalog of 5039 broad absorption line (BAL) quasars (QSOs) in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 5 (DR5) QSO catalog that have absorption troughs covering a continuous velocity range >=2000 km s-1. We have fitted ultraviolet (UV) continua and line emission in each case,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2009-02, Vol.692 (1), p.758-777
Main Authors: Gibson, Robert R, Jiang, Linhua, Brandt, W. N, Hall, Patrick B, Shen, Yue, Wu, Jianfeng, Anderson, Scott F, Schneider, Donald P, Vanden Berk, Daniel, Gallagher, S. C, Fan, Xiaohui, York, Donald G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astronomy
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
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Summary:We present a catalog of 5039 broad absorption line (BAL) quasars (QSOs) in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 5 (DR5) QSO catalog that have absorption troughs covering a continuous velocity range >=2000 km s-1. We have fitted ultraviolet (UV) continua and line emission in each case, enabling us to report common diagnostics of BAL strengths and velocities in the range -2,000 to 0 km s-1 for Si IV lambda 1400, C IV lambda 1549, Al III lambda 1857, and Mg II lambda 2799. We calculate these diagnostics using the spectrum listed in the DR5 QSO catalog, and also for spectra from additional SDSS observing epochs when available. In cases where BAL QSOs have been observed with Chandra or XMM-Newton, we report the X-ray monochromatic luminosities of these sources. We confirm and extend previous findings that BAL QSOs are more strongly reddened in the rest-frame UV than non-BAL QSOs, and that BAL QSOs are relatively X-ray weak compared to non-BAL QSOs. The observed BAL fraction is dependent on the spectral signal-to-noise ratio (S/N); for higher S/N sources, we find an observed BAL fraction of 15%. BAL QSOs show a similar Baldwin effect as for non-BAL QSOs, in that their C IV emission equivalent widths decrease with increasing continuum luminosity. However, BAL QSOs have weaker C IV emission in general than do non-BAL QSOs. Sources with higher UV luminosities are more likely to have higher-velocity outflows, and the BAL outflow velocity and UV absorption strength are correlated with relative X-ray weakness. These results are in qualitative agreement with models that depend on strong X-ray absorption to shield the outflow from overionization and enable radiative acceleration. In a scenario in which BAL trough shapes are primarily determined by outflow geometry, observed differences in Si IV and C IV trough shapes would suggest that some outflows have ion-dependent structure.
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/692/1/758