Spectropolarimetry of Radio-Selected Broad Absorption Line Quasars

Abstract

We report spectropolarimetry of 30 radio-selected broad absorption line (BAL) quasars with the Keck Observatory, 25 from the sample of Becker et al. (2000). Both high and low-ionization BAL quasars are represented, with redshifts ranging from 0.5 to 2.5. The spectropolarimetric properties of radio-selected BAL quasars are very similar to those of radio-quiet BAL quasars: a sizeable fraction (20%) show large continuum polarization (2-10%) usually rising toward short wavelengths, emission lines are typically less polarized than the continuum, and absorption line troughs often show large polarization jumps. There are no significant correlations between polarization properties and radio properties, including those indicative of system orientation, suggesting that BAL quasars are not simply normal quasars seen from an edge-on perspective.

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• The Nature of LoBAL QSOs: I. SEDs and mid-infrared spectral properties
• Rest-frame optical properties of luminous, radio-selected, broad absorption line quasars
• X-ray and optical properties of Broad Absorption Line Quasars in the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey
• The rest-frame ultraviolet properties of radio-loud broad absorption line quasars
• VLT Spectropolarimetry of Broad Absorption Line QSOs
• The orientation and polarization of broad absorption line quasars
• Spectroscopy of broad absorption line quasars at $3\lesssim z\lesssim 5$ -- I: evidence for quasar winds shaping broad/narrow emission line regions
• Radiation-pressure Waves and Multiphase Quasar Outflows
• Star Formation in Luminous LoBAL Quasars at 2.0<z<2.5
• The Nature of LoBAL QSOs: II. HST/WFC3 Observations Reveal Host Galaxies Dominated by Mergers