Associated Absorption Lines in the Radio-Loud Quasar 3C 351: Far-Ultraviolet Echelle Spectroscopy from the Hubble Space Telescope

Abstract

As one of the most luminous radio-loud quasars showing intrinsic ultraviolet (UV) and X-ray absorption, 3C 351 provides a laboratory for studying the kinematics and physical conditions of such ionized absorbers. We present an analysis of the intrinsic absorption lines in the high-resolution ($\sim$ 7 km/s) far-UV spectrum which was obtained from observations with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The spectrum spans wavelengths from 1150 Åto 1710 Å, and shows strong emission lines from O VI and Ly$\alpha$. Associated absorption lines are present on the blue wings of the high-ionization emission doublets O VI $\lambda \lambda$ 1032,1038 and N V $\lambda \lambda$ 1238,1242, as well as the Lyman lines through Ly$\epsilon$. These intrinsic absorption features are resolved into several distinct kinematic components, covering rest-frame velocities from -40 to -2800 km/s, with respect to the systemic redshift of $z_{em}=0.3721$. For the majority of these absorption line regions, strong evidence of partial covering of both the background continuum source and the BELR is found, which supports the intrinsic absorption origin and rules out the possibility that the absorption arises in some associated cluster of galaxies. The relationship between the far-UV absorbers and X-ray `warm' absorbers are studied with the assistance of photoionization models. Most of the UV associated absorption components have low values of the ionization parameter and total hydrogen column densities, which is inconsistent with previous claims that the UV and X-ray absorption arises in the same material. Analysis of these components supports a picture with a wide range of ionization parameters, temperatures, and column densities in AGN outflows.

27 pages with 5 figures, accepted by ApJ

References in corpus (6)

• X-ray Spectroscopy of QSOs with Broad Ultraviolet Absorption Lines
• A Chandra Survey of Broad Absorption Line Quasars
• The FIRST Bright Quasar Survey III. The South Galactic Cap
• The Statistical and Physical Properties of the Low Redshift Lyman Alpha Forest Observed with HST/STIS
• Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer Observations of the Seyfert 1.5 Galaxy NGC 5548 in a Low State
• Evidence for an accelerating wind as the broad-line region in NGC 3516

Cited by in corpus (20)

• A High-Resolution Survey of Low-Redshift QSO Absorption Lines: Statistics and Physical Conditions of O VI Absorbers
• Complex C: A Low-Metallicity High-Velocity Cloud Plunging into the Milky Way
• Physical Properties, Baryon Content, and Evolution of the LyαForest: New Insights from High Resolution Observations at z < 0.4
• The Relationship Between Intergalactic HI/OVI and Nearby (z<0.017) Galaxies
• A Census of Intrinsic Narrow Absorption Lines in the Spectra of Quasars at z=2-4
• Physical Properties and Baryonic Content of Low-Redshift Intergalactic Ly-alpha and O VI Absorption Systems: The PG1116+215 Sight Line
• Detection of Ne VIII in the Low-Redshift Warm-Hot IGM
• The Extreme High-Velocity Outflow in Quasar PG0935+417
• Results of Monitoring the Dramatically Variable C IV Mini-BAL System in the Quasar HS 1603+3820
• A STIS Survey for OVI Absorption Systems at 0.12 < z < 0.5 I.: The Statistical Properties of Ionized Gas
• Relationship between the Metallicity of the Circumgalactic Medium and Galaxy Orientation
• High Metallicity, Photoionised Gas in Intergalactic Large-Scale Filaments
• High-Resolution Absorption Spectroscopy of Multi-phase, High-Metallicity Gas Associated with the Luminous Quasar HE 0226-4110
• Discovery of the Transition of a Mini-Broad Absorption Line into Broad Absorption in the SDSS Quasar J115122.14+020426.3
• A Census of Quasar-Intrinsic Absorption in the Hubble Space Telescope Archive: Systems from High Resolution Echelle Spectra
• The Physical Conditions of the Intrinsic N V Narrow Absorption Line Systems of Three Quasars
• A Study of Quasar Proximity in O VI Absorbers at z=2-3
• Emergences of C IV narrow absorption troughs in the quasar SDSS J095254.10+021932.8
• The warm absorber in the radio-loud quasar 4C +74.26
• Galactic Winds across the Gas-Rich Merger Sequence II. Lyman Alpha Emission and Highly Ionized O VI and N V Outflows in Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies