HST-COS UV spectra observations of AGNs Virtual Observatory Resource

Authors
  1. Stevans M.L.
  2. Shull J.M.
  3. Danforth C.W.
  4. Tilton E.M.
  5. Published by
    CDS
Abstract

The ionizing fluxes from quasars and other active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are critical for interpreting their emission-line spectra and for photoionizing and heating the intergalactic medium. Using far-ultraviolet (FUV) spectra from the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), we directly measure the rest-frame ionizing continua and emission lines for 159 AGNs at redshifts 0.001<z_AGN_<1.476 and construct a composite spectrum from 475 to 1875 {AA}. We identify the underlying AGN continuum and strong extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission lines from ions of oxygen, neon, and nitrogen after masking out absorption lines from the H I Ly{alpha} forest, 7 Lyman-limit systems (N_HI_>=10^17.2^/cm2) and 214 partial Lyman-limit systems (14.5<logN_HI_<17.2). The 159 AGNs exhibit a wide range of FUV/EUV spectral shapes, F_v_{propto}{nu}^{alpha}_{nu}_^, typically with -2<={alpha}_{nu}_<=0 and no discernible continuum edges at 912 {AA} (H I) or 504 {AA} (He I). The composite rest-frame continuum shows a gradual break at {lambda}_br_{approx} 1000 {AA}, with mean spectral index {alpha}_{nu}_=-0.83+/-0.09 in the FUV (1200-2000 {AA}) steepening to {alpha}_{nu}_=-1.41+/-0.15 in the EUV (500-1000 {AA}). We discuss the implications of the UV flux turnovers and lack of continuum edges for the structure of accretion disks, AGN mass inflow rates, and luminosities relative to Eddington values.

Keywords
  1. active-galactic-nuclei
  2. galaxies
  3. spectroscopy
  4. ultraviolet-photometry
  5. redshifted
  6. hst-photometry
  7. visible-astronomy
  8. narrow-band-photometry
Bibliographic source Bibcode
2014ApJ...794...75S
See also HTML
https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/794/75
IVOA Identifier IVOID
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/794/75
Document Object Identifer DOI
doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.17940075

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http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/794/75
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https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/794/75/table1?
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/794/75/table1?

History

2017-05-12T16:15:25Z
Resource record created
2017-05-12T16:15:25Z
Created
2017-07-03T13:37:16Z
Updated

Contact

Name
CDS support team
Postal Address
CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France
E-Mail
cds-question@unistra.fr