Physical Conditions in Quasar Outflows: Very Large Telescope Observations of QSO 2359-1241

Simple item page
dc.contributorVirginia Techen
dc.contributor.authorKorista, K. T.en
dc.contributor.authorBautista, M. A.en
dc.contributor.authorArav, Nahumen
dc.contributor.authorMoe, Maxwellen
dc.contributor.authorCostantini, E.en
dc.contributor.authorBenn, C.en
dc.contributor.departmentPhysicsen
dc.date.accessed2014-02-28en
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-10T13:18:51Zen
dc.date.available2014-03-10T13:18:51Zen
dc.date.issued2008-11en
dc.description.abstractWe analyze the physical conditions of the outflow seen in QSO 2359-1241 (NVSS J235953-124148), based on high-resolution spectroscopic VLT observations. This object was previously studied using Keck HIRES data. The main improvement over the HIRES results is our ability to accurately determine the number density of the outflow. For the major absorption component, the populations from five different Fe II excited levels yield a gas density n(H) = 10(4.4) cm(-3) with less than 20% scatter. We find that the Fe II absorption arises from a region with roughly constant conditions and temperature greater than 9000 K, before the ionization front where temperature and electron density drop. Further, we model the observed spectra and investigate the effects of varying gas metallicities and the spectral energy distribution of the incident ionizing radiation field. The accurately measured column densities allow us to determine the ionization parameter (log U-H approximate to -2.4) and total column density of the outflow [log N-H(cm(-2)) approximate to 20.6]. Combined with the number density finding, these are stepping stones toward determining the mass flux and kinetic luminosity of the outflow, and therefore its importance to AGN feedback processes.en
dc.description.sponsorshipNSF AST 0507772en
dc.description.sponsorshipNASA LTSA NAG5-12867en
dc.identifier.citationKirk T. Korista et al. 2008 ApJ 688 108 doi:10.1086/592140en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1086/592140en
dc.identifier.issn0004-637Xen
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/25852en
dc.identifier.urlhttp://iopscience.iop.org/0004-637X/688/1/108en
dc.language.isoen_USen
dc.publisherIOP PUBLISHING LTDen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectquasars: absorption linesen
dc.subjectquasars: individual (qso 2359-1241)en
dc.subjectabsorption-line quasaren
dc.subjectkeck hires observationsen
dc.subjectactive galactic nucleien
dc.subjectx-rayen
dc.subjectblack-holesen
dc.subjectchemical abundancesen
dc.subjectcolumn densityen
dc.subjectatomic dataen
dc.subjectultravioleten
dc.subjectcampaignen
dc.titlePhysical Conditions in Quasar Outflows: Very Large Telescope Observations of QSO 2359-1241en
dc.title.serialAstrophysical Journalen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
0004-637X_688_1_108.pdf
Size:
226.81 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Main article
Download

Collections

Scholarly Works, Physics