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Description
We construct a composite quasar spectrum from 284 HST FOS spectra of 101 quasars with redshifts z>0.33. The spectrum covers the wavelengths between 350 and 3000A in the rest frame, with a peak S/N level of ~130 per A at ~1200A. Since ~90% of the sample quasars have redshift z<1.5, the spectrum is suitable for studying the wavelength region shortward of Ly{alpha} without large effects from intervening Ly{alpha} forest absorption. Data in the waveband between 350 and 600A are mainly from the spectra of z>1.5 quasars, for which significant corrections for the accumulated Lyman-series line and continuum absorption have been applied. There is a significant steepening of the continuum slope around 1050A. The continuum between 1050 and 2200A can be modeled as a power law f_{nu} proportional to {nu}_{alpha}_ with {alpha}=-0.99+/-0.05. For the full sample the power-law index in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) between 350 and 1050A is {alpha}=-1.96+/-0.15. For the radio-loud subsample (60 objects), the EUV spectral index is {alpha}~=-2.2, while for the radio-quiet subsample (41 objects) it is {alpha}~=-1.8. The continuum flux in the wavelengths near the Lyman limit shows a depression of ~10%. The break in the power-law index and the slight depression of the continuum near the Lyman limit are features expected in Comptonized accretion-disk spectra. Comptonization produces a power-law tail in the wavelength band shortward of 1000A and smears out the Lyman-limit edge of the intrinsic accretion-disk spectrum. In the EUV waveband, we detect several possible emission features, including one around 690A that may be O III + N III produced by the Bowen fluorescence effect. Comparing our composite spectrum with one made at higher redshifts by Francis et al. (1991ApJ...373..465F), we find that the equivalent widths of Ly{alpha} and high-ionization emission lines are larger in our sample, reflecting a known luminosity dependence. The equivalent widths of low-ionization lines do not exhibit such a dependence, suggesting that the quasar EUV continuum above ~50eV is steeper at higher luminosity. Radio-quiet quasars appear to show a slightly harder continuum and lower ionization levels in their emission lines.
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