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dc.contributor.authorSun, M.
dc.contributor.authorTrump, J.R.
dc.contributor.authorShen, Y.
dc.contributor.authorBrandt, W.N.
dc.contributor.authorDawson, K.
dc.contributor.authorDenney, K.D.
dc.contributor.authorHall, P.B.
dc.contributor.authorHo, L.C.
dc.contributor.authorHorne, Keith Douglas
dc.contributor.authorJiang, L.
dc.contributor.authorRichards, G.T.
dc.contributor.authorSchneider, D.P.
dc.contributor.authorBizyaev, D.
dc.contributor.authorKinemuchi, K.
dc.contributor.authorOravetz, D.
dc.contributor.authorPan, K.
dc.contributor.authorSimmons, A.
dc.date.accessioned2015-11-24T15:40:15Z
dc.date.available2015-11-24T15:40:15Z
dc.date.issued2015-09-20
dc.identifier.citationSun , M , Trump , J R , Shen , Y , Brandt , W N , Dawson , K , Denney , K D , Hall , P B , Ho , L C , Horne , K D , Jiang , L , Richards , G T , Schneider , D P , Bizyaev , D , Kinemuchi , K , Oravetz , D , Pan , K & Simmons , A 2015 , ' The sloan digital sky survey reverberation mapping project : ensemble spectroscopic variability of quasar broad emission lines ' , Astrophysical Journal , vol. 811 , no. 1 . https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/811/1/42en
dc.identifier.issn0004-637X
dc.identifier.otherPURE: 233991057
dc.identifier.otherPURE UUID: baace757-9ac6-4d8f-8548-7613d3982cef
dc.identifier.otherScopus: 84945533641
dc.identifier.otherWOS: 000363471600043
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10023/7842
dc.descriptionM.Y.S. acknowledges support from the China Scholarship Council (No. [2013]3009). J.R.T. and Y.S. acknowledge support from NASA through Hubble Fellowship grants #51330 and #51314, respectively, awarded by the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., for NASA under contract NAS 5-26555. W.N.B. acknowledges support from NSF grant AST-1108604 and the V. M. Willaman Endowment. KDD is supported by an NSF AAPF fellowship awarded under NSF grant AST-1302093.en
dc.description.abstractWe explore the variability of quasars in the Mg ii and Hβ broad emission lines and ultraviolet/optical continuum emission using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping project (SDSS-RM). This is the largest spectroscopic study of quasar variability to date: our study includes 29 spectroscopic epochs from SDSS-RM over 6 months, containing 357 quasars with Mg ii and 41 quasars with Hβ . On longer timescales, the study is also supplemented with two-epoch data from SDSS-I/II. The SDSS-I/II data include an additional 2854 quasars with Mg ii and 572 quasars with Hβ . The Mg ii emission line is significantly variable (Δƒ/ƒ ~ 10% on ~100-day timescales), a necessary prerequisite for its use for reverberation mapping studies. The data also confirm that continuum variability increases with timescale and decreases with luminosity, and the continuum light curves are consistent with a damped random-walk model on rest-frame timescales of ≳5 days. We compare the emission-line and continuum variability to investigate the structure of the broad-line region. Broad-line variability shows a shallower increase with timescale compared to the continuum emission, demonstrating that the broad-line transfer function is not a δ-function. Hβ is more variable than Mg ii (roughly by a factor of ~1.5), suggesting different excitation mechanisms, optical depths and/or geometrical configuration for each emission line. The ensemble spectroscopic variability measurements enabled by the SDSS-RM project have important consequences for future studies of reverberation mapping and black hole mass estimation of 1<픃<2 quasars.
dc.language.isoeng
dc.relation.ispartofAstrophysical Journalen
dc.rights© 2015. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the final published version of the work, which was originally published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/811/1/42en
dc.subjectBlack hole physicsen
dc.subjectGalaxies: activeen
dc.subjectQuasars: emission linesen
dc.subjectQuasars: generalen
dc.subjectSurveysen
dc.subjectQB Astronomyen
dc.subjectQC Physicsen
dc.subject3rd-DASen
dc.subject.lccQBen
dc.subject.lccQCen
dc.titleThe sloan digital sky survey reverberation mapping project : ensemble spectroscopic variability of quasar broad emission linesen
dc.typeJournal articleen
dc.contributor.sponsorScience & Technology Facilities Councilen
dc.contributor.sponsorScience & Technology Facilities Councilen
dc.description.versionPublisher PDFen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. School of Physics and Astronomyen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/811/1/42
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.identifier.grantnumberST/M001296/1en
dc.identifier.grantnumberST/J001651/1en


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