QSOs narrow absorption line variability Virtual Observatory Resource

Authors
  1. Hacker T.L.
  2. Brunner R.J.
  3. Lundgren B.F.
  4. York D.G.
  5. Published by
    CDS
Abstract

We present the results from a time domain study of absorption lines detected in quasar spectra with repeat observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 (SDSS DR7). Beginning with over 4,500 unique time separation baselines of various absorption line species identified in the SDSS DR7 quasar spectra, we create a catalogue of 2,522 quasar absorption line (QAL) systems with two to eight repeat observations, representing the largest, unbiased, and homogeneous collection of multi-epoch absorption systems ever published. To investigate these systems for time-variability of narrow absorption lines, we refine this sample based on the reliability of the system detection, the proximity of pixels with bright sky contamination to individual absorption lines, and the quality of the continuum fit. Variability measurements of this sub-sample based on the absorption line equivalent widths yield a total of 33 systems with indications of significantly variable absorption strengths on time-scales ranging from one day to several years in the rest frame of the absorption system. Of these, at least 10 are from a class known as intervening absorption systems caused by foreground galaxies along the line of sight to the background quasar. This is the first evidence of possible absorption line variability detected in intervening systems, and their short time-scale variations suggest that small-scale structures (~10-100AU) are likely to exist in their host foreground galaxies.

Keywords
  1. quasars
  2. redshifted
  3. line-intensities
Bibliographic source Bibcode
2013MNRAS.434..163H
See also HTML
https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/MNRAS/434/163
IVOA Identifier IVOID
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/434/163
Document Object Identifer DOI
doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.74340163

Access

Web browser access HTML
http://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/MNRAS/434/163
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/MNRAS/434/163
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/MNRAS/434/163
IVOA Table Access TAP
http://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tap
Run SQL-like queries with TAP-enabled clients (e.g., TOPCAT).
IVOA Cone Search SCS
For use with a cone search client (e.g., TOPCAT).
http://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/MNRAS/434/163/table2?
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/MNRAS/434/163/table2?
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/MNRAS/434/163/table2?
IVOA Cone Search SCS
For use with a cone search client (e.g., TOPCAT).
http://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/MNRAS/434/163/table3?
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/MNRAS/434/163/table3?
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/MNRAS/434/163/table3?

History

2014-03-08T16:29:01Z
Resource record created
2014-03-08T16:29:01Z
Created
2024-07-22T20:13:37Z
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