The SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper Reverberation Mapping Project: C iv Broad Absorption Line Acceleration in the Quasar SBS 1408+544

Autor: Robert Wheatley, Catherine J. Grier, Patrick B. Hall, W. N. Brandt, Jonah Lotz, D. P. Schneider, Jonathan R. Trump, Yue Shen, Lucas M. Seaton, Scott F. Anderson, Matthew J. Temple, Roberto Assef, Logan B. Fries, Y. Homayouni, Darshan Kakkad, Anton M. Koekemoer, Mary Loli Martínez-Aldama, C. Alenka Negrete, Claudio Ricci, Dmitry Bizyaev, Joel R. Brownstein, Sean Morrison, Kaike Pan
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: The Astrophysical Journal, Vol 968, Iss 2, p 49 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1538-4357
DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ad429e
Popis: We present the results of an investigation of a highly variable C iv broad absorption line (BAL) feature in spectra of the quasar SBS 1408+544 ( z = 2.337) that shows a significant shift in velocity over time. This source was observed as a part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Reverberation Mapping project and the SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper Reverberation Mapping project, and has been included in two previous studies, both of which identified significant variability in a high-velocity C iv BAL on timescales of just a few days in the quasar rest frame. Using ∼130 spectra acquired over 8 yr of spectroscopic monitoring with SDSS, we have determined that this BAL is not only varying in strength, but is also systematically shifting to higher velocities. Using cross-correlation methods, we measure the velocity shifts (and corresponding acceleration) of the BAL over a wide range of timescales, measuring an overall velocity shift of ${\rm{\Delta }}v=-{683}_{-84}^{+89}$ km s ^−1 over the 8 yr monitoring period. This corresponds to an average rest-frame acceleration of a = 1.04 ${}_{-0.13}^{+0.14}$ cm s ^−2 , though the magnitude of the acceleration on shorter timescales is not constant throughout. We place our measurements in the context of BAL-acceleration models and examine various possible causes of the observed velocity shift.
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