Hubble Space Telescope Ultraviolet Spectroscopy of Fourteen Low-Redshift Quasars

Authors

Rajib Ganguly, University of Wyoming, Laramie
Michael S. Brotherton, University of Wyoming, Laramie
Nahum Arav, University of Colorado, BoulderFollow
Sara R. Heap, Laboratory of Astronomy and Solar Physics, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
Lutz Wisotzki, Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam, Germany
Thomas L. Aldcroft, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA
Danielle Alloin, ESO, Alonso de Cordova 3107, Vitacura, Chile
Ehud Behar, Technion, IsraelFollow
Gabriela Canalizo, University of California - Riverside
D. Michael Crenshaw, Georgia State UniversityFollow
Martijn de Kool, Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA), Mount Stomlo Observatory, Cotter Road, Australia
Kenneth Chambers, Institute for Astronomy, Honolulu, HI
Gerald Cecil, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Eleni Chatzichristou, Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics - National Observatory of Athens, I. Metaxa & Vas. Pavlou, Palea Penteli, Athens Greece
John Everett, Canadian Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Jack R. Gabel, University of ColoradoFollow
C. Martin Gaskell, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Emmanuel Galliano, University of California - Davis
Richard F. Green, Large Binocular Telescope Observatory, Tucson, AZ
Patrick B. Hall, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Dean C. Hines, Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colorado
Vesa T. Junkkarinen, University of California - San Diego
Jelle S. Kaastra, SRON National Institute for Space ResearchFollow
Mary Elizabeth Kaiser, John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Demosthenes Kazanas, Laboratory of Astronomy and Solar Physics, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
Arieh Konigl, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, and Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, Illinois
Kirk T. Korista, Western Michigan UniversityFollow
Gerard A. Kriss, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MDFollow
Ari Laor, Technion, Haifa, IsraelFollow
Karen M. Leighly, University of Oklahoma - Norman
Smita Mathur, Ohio State UniversityFollow
Patrick Ogle, Spitzer Science Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
Daniel Ogle, University of Nevada - Las Vegas
Bassem Sabra, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Notre Dame University, Zouk Mosbeh, Lebanon
Ran Sivron, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas
Stephanie A. Snedden, Apache Point Observatory, Sunspot, NMFollow
Randal Telfer, Orbital Sciences
Marianne Vestergaard, University of ArizonaFollow

Date of this Version

10-17-2006

Comments

Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal (projected vol 133); online at astro-ph/0610435. Copyright 2006. Permission to use.

Abstract

We present low-resolution ultraviolet spectra of 14 low redshift (z _em < 0.8) quasars observed with HST/STIS as part of a Snap project to understand the relationship between quasar outflows and luminosity. By design, all observations cover the C IV emission line. Nine of the quasars are from the Hamburg-ESO catalog, three are from the Palomar-Green catalog, and one is from the Parkes catalog. The sample contains a few interesting quasars including two broad absorption line (BAL) quasars (HE 0143- 3535, HE0436-2614), one quasar with a mini-BAL (HE 1105-0746), and one quasar with associated narrow absorption (HE 0409-5004). These BAL quasars are among the brightest known (though not the most luminous) since they lie at z _em< 0.8. We compare the properties of these BAL quasars to the z _em < 0.5 Palomar-Green and z _em> 1.4 Large Bright Quasar samples. By design, our objects sample luminosities in between these two surveys, and our four absorbed objects are consistent with the υ ∼L ^0.62 relation derived by Laor & Brandt (2002). Another quasar, HE0441-2826, contains extremely weak emission lines and our spectrum is consistent with a simple power- law continuum. The quasar is radio-loud, but has a steep spectral index and a lobe- dominated morphology, which argues against it being a blazar. The unusual spectrum of this quasar resembles the spectra of the quasars PG1407+265, SDSS J1136+0242, and PKS 1004+13 for which several possible explanations have been entertained.