Broad forbidden Ne III line emission and intermediate-density gas around QSO nuclei

A broad emission feature, with a velocity width of the order of 5000 km/s, has been observed near rest wavelength 3870 A in the spectra of three low-redshift QSOs. The line is identified as forbidden Ne III 3869. This broad line may have varied over a time scale of two years, indicating that clouds...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPublications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Vol. 102; p. 497
Main Authors Zheng, Wei, Burbridge, E. Margaret, Smith, Harding E.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Legacy CDMS 01.05.1990
Subjects
Astrophysics
CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS
COSMIC GASES
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
DENSITY
ELEMENTS
EMISSION SPECTRA
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
FLUIDS
FLUX DENSITY
FORBIDDEN TRANSITIONS
GALAXY NUCLEI
GASES
INTERSTELLAR SPACE
IONIZED GASES
LINE WIDTHS
NEON
NONMETALS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
QUASARS
RADIATION PRESSURE
RARE GASES
SPACE
SPECTRA 640102 > Astrophysics & Cosmology > Stars & Quasi-Stellar, Radio & X-Ray Sources
VELOCITY
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Summary:A broad emission feature, with a velocity width of the order of 5000 km/s, has been observed near rest wavelength 3870 A in the spectra of three low-redshift QSOs. The line is identified as forbidden Ne III 3869. This broad line may have varied over a time scale of two years, indicating that clouds of intermediate density between 10 to the 8th and 10 to the 11th/cu cm may coexist in the broad-line region. Such clouds would be optically thin, highly ionized, and subject to rapid destruction by radiation pressure.
Bibliography:CDMS
Legacy CDMS
ISSN: 0004-6280
None
ISSN:0004-6280
1538-3873
DOI:10.1086/132663