The orientation dependence of quasar single-epoch black hole mass scaling relationships

Runnoe, Jessie C.; Brotherton, Michael S.; Shang, Zhiyuan; Wills, Beverley J.; DiPompeo, Michael A.

doi:10.1093/mnras/sts322

Cited by 41 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 66 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In bin B1 we are probably considering a subsample of FRII that show narrower profile than the majority of the population. If the FWHM is affected by orientation as expected (e.g., Wills & Browne 1986;Sulentic et al 2003;Rokaki et al 2003;Runnoe et al 2013;Zamfir et al 2008), we are observing sources that tend to be seen at a smaller viewing angle than the general FRII population. If the wind flow follows a bent path over the accretion disk (Elvis 2000) or if the flow is constrained closer to the disk plane, the absence of a blueshift might therefore be related more to orientation than to full suppression of disk winds in RL sources by the pressure of a cocoon associated with the relativistic ejections (Norman & Miley 1984).…”

Section: Radio Quiet and Radio Loudmentioning

confidence: 55%

Is MgIIλ2800 a reliable virial broadening estimator for quasars?

Marziani

Sulentic

Plauchu-Frayn

et al. 2013

A&A

156

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Context. Broad Mgiiλ2800 and Hβ lines have emerged as the most reliable virial estimators of the black hole mass in quasars. Which is more reliable? Part of the challenge centers on comparing Mgiiλ2800 and Hβ line profiles in order to improve the ±1 dex M BH uncertainties inherent in single-epoch FWHM measures from noisy spectra. Aims. We compare Mgiiλ2800 and Hβ profile measures in the same sources and especially FWHM measures that provide the virial broadening estimator. Methods. We identify 680 bright Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 quasars with spectra showing both Mgiiλ2800 and Hβ lines at redshift 0.4 ≤ z ≤ 0.75. The S/N of these spectra are high enough to allow binning in the "four-dimensional (4D) eigenvector 1" optical plane and construction of high S/N composite spectra. Results. We confirm that Mgiiλ2800 shows a profile that is ≈20% narrower as suggested in some previous studies. FWHM measures for Population B sources (i.e., with FWHM of Hβ larger than 4000 km s −1 ) are uncertain because they show complex profiles with at least two broad-line components involving a nearly unshifted broad and redshifted very-broad component. Only the broad component is likely to be a valid virial estimator. If Hβ and Mgiiλ2800 are not corrected for the very broad component then black hole mass M BH values for Population B sources will be systematically overestimated by up to Δ logM BH ≈ 0.3−0.4 dex. We suggest a simple correction that can be applied to the majority of sources. Mgiiλ2800 is the safer virial estimator for Population B sources because the centroid shifts with respect to rest frame are lower than for Hβ. In the broad and very broad component profile interpretation, this is a consequence of the lower very broad to broad component intensity ratio for Mgiiλ2800. Eigenvector-based studies show that effective discrimination of black hole mass and Eddington ratio at fixed redshift is not achieved via luminosity binning but rather by binning in a "4D eigenvector 1" context that reflects different broad line region geometry/kinematics probably driven by the Eddington ratio.

show abstract

Section: Radio Quiet and Radio Loudmentioning

confidence: 55%

Is MgIIλ2800 a reliable virial broadening estimator for quasars?

Marziani

Sulentic

Plauchu-Frayn

et al. 2013

A&A

156

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Other factors most likely play important roles and have been discussed in recent reviews (e.g., Marziani et al 2006;Marziani & Sulentic 2014a). We note that a key complication affecting the quasars is that our measurements are affected by line-of-sight orientation Collin et al 2006;Boroson 2011;Runnoe et al 2013). Metallicity effects also significantly affect the observed spectra of quasars (e.g., Ferland et al 1996;Shemmer et al 2004;.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 68%

GTC spectra ofz≈ 2.3 quasars: comparison with local luminosity analogs

Sulentic¹,

Marziani²,

Olmo³

et al. 2014

A&A

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Context. The advent of 8−10 m class telescopes for the first time makes it possible to compare in detail quasars with similar luminosity and very different redshifts. Aims. We conducted a search for z-dependent gradients in line-emission diagnostics and derived physical properties by comparing, in a narrow bolometric luminosity range (log L ∼ 46.1± 0.4 [erg s −1 ]), some of the most luminous local z < 0.6 quasars with some of the lowest luminosity sources yet found at redshift z = 2.1−2.5. Methods. Moderate signal-to-noise ratio spectra for 22 high-redshift sources were obtained with the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), for which the HST (largely the Faint Object Spectrograph) archive provides a low-redshift control sample. We compared the spectra in the context of the 4D Eigenvector 1 formalism, meaning that we divided both source samples into highly accreting population A and population B sources accreting at a lower rate. Results. Civλ1549, the strongest and most reliable diagnostic line, shows very similar properties at both redshifts, which confirms the Civλ1549 profile differences at high redshift between populations A and B, which are well established in local quasars. The Civλ1549 blueshift that appears quasi-ubiquitous in higher L sources is found in only half (population A) of the quasars observed in the two samples. A Civλ1549 evolutionary Baldwin effect is certainly disfavored. We find evidence for lower metallicity in the GTC sample that may point toward a gradient with z. No evidence for a gradient in M BH or L/L Edd is found. Conclusions. Spectroscopic differences established at low z are also present in much higher redshift quasars. Our results on the Civλ1549 blueshift suggest that it depends both on source luminosity and L/L Edd . Given that our samples involve sources with very similar luminosity, the evidence for a systematic metallicity decrease, if real, points toward an evolutionary effect. Our samples are not large enough to effectively constrain possible changes of M BH or L/L Edd with redshift. The two samples appear representative of a slowly evolving quasar population that is most likely present at all redshifts.

show abstract

“…8 is primarily an orientation effect, based on the results of low-z quasars (e.g., Shen & Ho 2014;Sun & Shen 2015, also see Marziani et al 2001). Such an orientation bias in the broad Hβ FWHM is also argued based on radio-loud quasars, where the orientation of the radio jet (hence the accretion disk and BLR orientation) can be inferred from the radio core dominance (e.g., Wills & Browne 1986;Runnoe et al 2013a;Brotherton et al 2015b).…”

Section: Eigenvector 1 Relationsmentioning

confidence: 87%

REST-FRAME OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF LUMINOUS 1.5 < Z < 3.5 QUASARS: THE Hβ-[O iii] REGION

Shen

2016

ApJ

111

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We study the rest-frame optical properties of 74 luminous (L bol = 10 46.2−48.2 erg s −1 ), 1.5 < z < 3.5 broad-line quasars with near-IR (JHK) slit spectroscopy. Systemic redshifts based on the peak of the [O III] λ5007 line reveal that redshift estimates from the rest-frame UV broad emission lines (mostly Mg II) are intrinsically uncertain by ∼ 200 km s −1 (measurement errors accounted for). The overall full-width-at-half-maximum of the narrow [O III] line is ∼ 1000 km s −1 on average. A significant fraction of the total [O III] flux (∼ 40%) is in a blueshifted wing component with a median velocity offset of ∼ 700 km s −1 , indicative of ionized outflows within a few kpc from the nucleus; we do not find evidence of significant [O III] flux beyond ∼ 10 kpc in our slit spectroscopy. The [O III] line is noticeably more asymmetric and weaker than that in typical less luminous low-z quasars. However, when matched in quasar continuum luminosity, low-z quasars have similar [O III] profiles and strengths as these high-z systems. Therefore the exceptionally large width and blueshifted wing, and the relatively weak strength of [O III] in high-z luminous quasars are mostly a luminosity effect rather than redshift evolution. The Hβ-[O III] region of these high-z quasars displays a similar spectral diversity and Eigenvector 1 correlations with anti-correlated [O III] and optical Fe II strengths, as seen in low-z quasars; but the average broad Hβ width is larger by 25% than typical low-z quasars, indicating more massive black holes in these high-z systems. These results highlight the importance of understanding [O III] in the general context of quasar parameter space in order to understand quasar feedback in the form of [O III] outflows. The calibrated one-dimensional near-IR spectra are made publicly available, along with a composite spectrum.

show abstract

The orientation dependence of quasar single-epoch black hole mass scaling relationships

Cited by 41 publications

References 66 publications

Is MgIIλ2800 a reliable virial broadening estimator for quasars?

Is MgIIλ2800 a reliable virial broadening estimator for quasars?

GTC spectra ofz≈ 2.3 quasars: comparison with local luminosity analogs

REST-FRAME OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF LUMINOUS 1.5 < Z < 3.5 QUASARS: THE Hβ-[O iii] REGION

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About