We have carried out a systematic search for subparsec supermassive black hole (BH) binaries among z<~0.7 Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasars. These are predicted by models of supermassive BH and host galaxy coevolution, therefore their census and population properties constitute an important test of these models. In our working hypothesis, one of the two BHs accretes at a much higher rate than the other and carries with it the only broad emission line region of the system, making the system analogous to a single-lined spectroscopic binary star. Accordingly, we used spectroscopic principal component analysis to search for broad H{beta} emission lines that are displaced from the quasar rest frame by |{Delta}{nu}|>~1000km/s. This method also yields candidates for rapidly recoiling BHs. Of the 88 candidates, several were previously reported in the literature. We found a correlation between the peak offset and skewness of the broad H{beta} profiles, suggesting a common physical explanation for these profiles. We carried out follow-up spectroscopic observations of 68 objects to search for changes in the peak velocities of the H{beta} lines.
We report 6yr monitoring of distant bright quasar CTS C30.10 (z=0.90052) with the Southern African Large Telescope. We measured the rest-frame time lag of 562_-68_^+116^ days between the continuum variations and the response of the MgII emission line, using six different methods. This time delay, combined with other available measurements of MgII line delay, mostly for lower-redshift sources, shows that the MgII line reverberation implies a radius-luminosity relation very similar to the one based on a more frequently studied H{beta} line.
The spectra of HT Virginis were collected at 0.5m Newtonian telescope (PST1) equipped with echelle spectrograph (R=40 000). The focal length of the telescope is 2.25m. The data set was obtained between 6 May 2011 and 21 May 2011. The signal-to-noise ratio is from 10 to 85. The collected data covered spectral range from 4288 to 7517{AA}. The continuum of the spectra was normalised to 1 while the wave length scale was not corrected to the heliocentric values. The spectra contain light from the eclipsing pair B and component A which is SBI type (A/B separation is 0.56 arcsec).
NGC 7009 is a fascinating example of a high-excitation, elliptical planetary nebula (PN) containing circumnebular rings, and FLIERs and jets along the major axis. We present visual spectroscopy along multiple position angles through the nucleus, taken with the Observatorio Astronomico Nacional (Mexico); mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy and imaging acquired using the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) and Spitzer Space Telescope (SST), and narrow-band imaging obtained using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).
We have made new observations of the spectrum of singly ionized chromium (CrII) in the region 2850-37900{AA} with the National Institute of Standards and Technology 2m Fourier transform spectrometer. These data extend our previously reported observations in the near-ultra-violet region. We present a comprehensive list of more than 5300 CrII lines classified as transitions among 456 even and 457 odd levels, 179 of which are newly located in this work. Using highly excited levels of the 3d^4^(^5^D)5g, 3d^4^(^5^D)6g, and 3d^4^(^5^D)6h configurations, we derive an improved ionization energy of 132971.02+/-0.12cm^-1^ (16.486305+/-0.000015eV).
Measurements of ultraviolet line fluxes from Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and Far-Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer spectra of the K2-dwarf eps Eri are reported. These are used to develop new emission measure distributions and semi-empirical atmospheric models for the chromosphere and lower transition region of the star. These models are the most detailed constructed to date for a main-sequence star other than the Sun. New ionization balance calculations, which account for the effect of finite density on dielectronic recombination rates, are presented for carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and silicon. The results of these calculations are significantly different from the standard Arnaud & Rothenflug ion balance, particularly for alkali-like ions. The new atmospheric models are used to place constraints on possible first ionization potential (FIP)-related abundance variations in the lower atmosphere and to discuss limitations of single-component models for the interpretation of certain optically thick line fluxes.
We report the identification of LSR J0745+2627 in the United Kingdom InfraRed Telescope Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) Large Area Survey (LAS) as a cool white dwarf with kinematics and age compatible with the thick-disk/halo population. LSR J0745+2627 has a high proper motion (890mas/yr) and a high reduced proper motion value in the J band (H_J=21.87). We show how the infrared-reduced proper motion diagram is useful for selecting a sample of cool white dwarfs with low contamination. LSR J0745+2627 is also detected in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). We have spectroscopically confirmed this object as a cool white dwarf using X-Shooter on the Very Large Telescope. An analysis of its spectral energy distribution reveals that its atmosphere is compatible with a pure-H composition model with an effective temperature of 3880+/-90K. This object is the brightest pure-H ultracool white dwarf (Teff<4000K) ever identified. We have constrained the distance (24-45pc), space velocities and age considering different surface gravities. The results obtained suggest that LSR J0745+2627 belongs to the thick-disk/halo population and is also one of the closest ultracool white dwarfs.
Astronomical survey of interstellar molecular clouds needs a previous analysis of the spectra in the microwave and sub-mm energy range of organic molecules in order to be able to identify them. Very accurate spectroscopic constants are obtained in a comprehensive laboratory analysis of rotational spectra. These constants can be used to predict with very high precision the frequencies of transitions that have not been measured in the laboratory. In this work, an experimental study and its theoretical analysis is presented for two ^18^O-methyl formate isotopologues in order to detect for the first time both isotopologues in Orion KL. The experimental spectra of both isotopologues of methyl formate have been recorded in the microwave and sub-mm energy range from 1 to 660GHz. Both spectra have been analysed by using the Rho-Axis Method (RAM) which takes into account the CH3 internal rotation. Spectroscopic constants of both ^18^O-methyl formate have been obtained with high accuracy. Thousands of transitions were assigned and others predicted, which allowed us to detect both species in the IRAM 30m line survey of Orion KL for the first time in the space.
