Rapidly accreting black hole of the Lyα-luminous quasar PSO J006.1240+39.2219

Abstract

We present near-infrared 1.1-1.3 and 1.3-1.6 $\mu$m spectra of the Ly$\alpha$-luminous quasar PSO J006.1240+39.2219 at $z=6.617$ obtained with the NIRSPEC spectrograph at the Keck-II telescope. The spectra cover the CIV $\lambda$1549, CIII] $\lambda$1909 emission lines and part of the UV continuum of the quasar. From the NIRSPEC observations of PSO J006.1240+39.2219, we constrain the spectral slope of its UV continuum to be ${\alpha }_{\lambda }=-1.35\pm 0.26$ and measure an absolute magnitude of $M_{1450}=-25.60$. Using the scaling relation between black hole mass, width of the CIV line and ultraviolet continuum luminosity, we derive a black hole mass of $(2.19\pm 0.30)\times 10^8{M}_{sun}$, which is consistent but somewhat smaller than the typical black hole masses of $z\gtrsim 6$ quasars of similar luminosities. The inferred accretion rate of $L_{bol}/L_{edd}\gtrsim 2$ indicates that PSO J006.1240+39.2219 is in the phase of the rapid growth of its supermassive black hole characterized by the high NV/CIV line ratio, NV/CIV$>1$, and lower level of ionization of its circumnuclear gas than in other high-redshift luminous quasars. The NV/CIV line ratio of PSO J006.1240+39.2219 implies relatively high abundance of nitrogen in its circumnuclear gas. This abundance might be produced by the post-starburst population of stars that provide the fuel for black hole accretion.

13 pages, 8 figures, submitted to ApJ