Properties of X-ray-selected broad absorption-line quasars

Broad absorption-line quasars (commonly termed BALQSOs) contain the most dramatic examples of active galactic nucleus (AGN) driven winds. The high absorbing columns in these winds, ~1024 cm-2, ensure that BALQSOs are generally X-ray faint. This high X-ray absorption means that almost all BALQSOs hav...

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Main Authors: Blustin, A., Dwelly, T., Page, M., McHardy, I., Seymour, Nick, Kennea, J., Loaring, N., Mason, K., Sekiguchi, K.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Oxford University Press 2008
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/15458
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author Blustin, A.
Dwelly, T.
Page, M.
McHardy, I.
Seymour, Nick
Kennea, J.
Loaring, N.
Mason, K.
Sekiguchi, K.
author_facet Blustin, A.
Dwelly, T.
Page, M.
McHardy, I.
Seymour, Nick
Kennea, J.
Loaring, N.
Mason, K.
Sekiguchi, K.
author_sort Blustin, A.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Broad absorption-line quasars (commonly termed BALQSOs) contain the most dramatic examples of active galactic nucleus (AGN) driven winds. The high absorbing columns in these winds, ~1024 cm-2, ensure that BALQSOs are generally X-ray faint. This high X-ray absorption means that almost all BALQSOs have been discovered through optical surveys, and so what little we know about their X-ray properties is derived from very bright optically selected sources. A small number of X-ray-selected BALQSOs (XBALQSOs) have, however, recently been found in deep X-ray survey fields. In this paper we investigate the X-ray and rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) properties of five XBALQSOs for which we have obtained XMM-Newton EPIC X-ray spectra and deep optical imaging and spectroscopy. We find that, although the XBALQSOs have an aox steeper by ~0.5 than normal QSOs, their median aox is nevertheless flatter by 0.30 than that of a comparable sample of optically selected BALQSOs (OBALQSOs). We rule out the possibility that the higher X-ray to optical flux ratio is due to intrinsic optical extinction. We find that the amount of X-ray and UV absorption due to the wind in XBALQSOs is similar, or perhaps greater than, the corresponding wind absorption in OBALQSOs, so the flatter aox cannot be a result of weaker wind absorption. We conclude that these XBALQSOs have intrinsically higher X-ray to optical flux ratios than the OBALQSO sample with which we compare them. © 2008 The Authors.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-154582017-09-13T13:41:02Z Properties of X-ray-selected broad absorption-line quasars Blustin, A. Dwelly, T. Page, M. McHardy, I. Seymour, Nick Kennea, J. Loaring, N. Mason, K. Sekiguchi, K. Broad absorption-line quasars (commonly termed BALQSOs) contain the most dramatic examples of active galactic nucleus (AGN) driven winds. The high absorbing columns in these winds, ~1024 cm-2, ensure that BALQSOs are generally X-ray faint. This high X-ray absorption means that almost all BALQSOs have been discovered through optical surveys, and so what little we know about their X-ray properties is derived from very bright optically selected sources. A small number of X-ray-selected BALQSOs (XBALQSOs) have, however, recently been found in deep X-ray survey fields. In this paper we investigate the X-ray and rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) properties of five XBALQSOs for which we have obtained XMM-Newton EPIC X-ray spectra and deep optical imaging and spectroscopy. We find that, although the XBALQSOs have an aox steeper by ~0.5 than normal QSOs, their median aox is nevertheless flatter by 0.30 than that of a comparable sample of optically selected BALQSOs (OBALQSOs). We rule out the possibility that the higher X-ray to optical flux ratio is due to intrinsic optical extinction. We find that the amount of X-ray and UV absorption due to the wind in XBALQSOs is similar, or perhaps greater than, the corresponding wind absorption in OBALQSOs, so the flatter aox cannot be a result of weaker wind absorption. We conclude that these XBALQSOs have intrinsically higher X-ray to optical flux ratios than the OBALQSO sample with which we compare them. © 2008 The Authors. 2008 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/15458 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13825.x Oxford University Press unknown
spellingShingle Blustin, A.
Dwelly, T.
Page, M.
McHardy, I.
Seymour, Nick
Kennea, J.
Loaring, N.
Mason, K.
Sekiguchi, K.
Properties of X-ray-selected broad absorption-line quasars
title Properties of X-ray-selected broad absorption-line quasars
title_full Properties of X-ray-selected broad absorption-line quasars
title_fullStr Properties of X-ray-selected broad absorption-line quasars
title_full_unstemmed Properties of X-ray-selected broad absorption-line quasars
title_short Properties of X-ray-selected broad absorption-line quasars
title_sort properties of x-ray-selected broad absorption-line quasars
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/15458