IUE Observations of Quasars

Extract

Spectra of six quasars have been obtained with the International Ultraviolet Explorer Satellite. Five of the six show no evidence for strong Lyα absorption between the redshifted and rest wavelengths, for .23≤ z_em ≤1.72. In addition, the quasar PG 1115+080 at z=1.72 shows no evidence for strong He I absorption from the resonance transition at λ584 Å. These results confirm that the intergalactic medium must be both tenuous and hot enough to produce an optical depth <0.1 in neutral hydrogen and helium. In no case was the Lyman edge detected in absorption near z_em. Four of the objects produce an average Lyα/Hβ intensity ratio of 6.3, in disagreement with the theoretical prediction for Case B optically thick recombination of 30. Also, two of the objects show Lyγ in emission, a result unexpected from Case B line transfer assumptions. The Lyα emission line in 3C 351 shows the identical sharp core plus 20,000 km s⁻¹ broad wings observed in Hβ and Mg II, implying a common origin in the same dynamical ensemble of emitting regions. These quasars show systematically steeper spectral indices when the energy distributions are fit from the ultraviolet through the visible than those derived from the visible spectra alone. PG 1115+080 shows a featureless continuum down to an observed λ1173 Å. The ionizing spectrum, with f_ν αν^−2.0, therefore persists beyond 2 Rydbergs. The spectrum of PG 1247+268, with z=2.038, contains a strong absorption line at observed λ2697 Å, with no net flux detected from λ2000 Å down to the observed limit at λ1150 Å. This result is interpreted as absorption in Lyα and the Ly edge at z=1.218. Low dispersion optical spectra show no evidence for Mg II or C IV absorption in the same system; the signal to noise ratio is too low in the IUE spectrum to confirm Lyβ. We conclude that the line of sight intersects a metal-poor cloud with τ ≲ 1 in the Ly continuum, at (1+z_em)/(1 + z_abs) = 1.37.