Quasar massive ionized outflows traced by CIV λ1549 and [OIII]λλ4959,5007
Abstract
The most luminous quasars (with bolometric luminosities are 1047 erg/s) show a high prevalence of CIV λ1549 and [OIII]λλ4959,5007 emission line profiles with strong blueshifts. Blueshifts are interpreted as due to Doppler effect and selective obscuration, and indicate outflows occurring over a wide range of spatial scales. We found evidence in favor of the nuclear origin of the outflows diagnosed by [OIII]λλ 4959,5007. The ionized gas mass, kinetic power, and mechanical thrust are extremely high, and suggest widespread feedback effects on the host galaxies of very luminous quasars, at cosmic epochs between 2 and 6 Gyr from the Big Bang. In this mini-review we summarize results obtained by our group and reported in several major papers in the last few years with an eye on challenging aspects of quantifying feedback effects in large samples of quasars.
- Publication:
-
Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences
- Pub Date:
- September 2017
- DOI:
- 10.3389/fspas.2017.00016
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1709.05691
- Bibcode:
- 2017FrASS...4...16M
- Keywords:
-
- Galaxy evolution;
- quasars;
- Quasars: supermassive black holes;
- Feedback;
- quasars: emission lines;
- Outflows;
- Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN);
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
- E-Print:
- 10 pages, 2 figures. Contribution to the Proceedings of the meeting "Quasars at all cosmic epochs", held in Padova on April 2-7, 2017