Discovery of the First Changing-Look Quasar
Abstract
SDSS J015957.64+003310.5, an X-ray selected AGN from the Stripe 82X survey, transitioned from a Type 1 quasar to a Type 1.9 AGN between 2000 and 2010. This is the most distant and luminous changing-look AGN to date. Between 2000 and 2010, the AGN continuum faded by a factor of ∼8.5 while the broad H-alpha line broadened and dimmed. X-ray observations from both the bright and faint optical states show a similar decrease in X-ray flux though absorption signatures are absent. Time-varying absorption does not explain the observed spectroscopic or photometric properties of the AGN. Instead, we interpret the changing-state to be caused by a decrease in the AGN continuum which reduces the supply of available photons to ionize the gas near the black hole. J0159+0033 thus provides information about the intermittency of black hole growth in quasars as well as an unparalleled opportunity to study quasar physics and host galaxy properties in the same source.
- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #225
- Pub Date:
- January 2015
- Bibcode:
- 2015AAS...22520401L