Strong CaII absorption lines in the reddened quasar SDSS J2339$-$0912: Evidence of the collision/merger in the host galaxy?

Abstract

We report the detection of strong CaII/MgII absorption lines at the quasar redshift in the narrow line quasar SDSS J2339-0912 (z=0.6604). The quasar exhibits strong FeII, small Balmer emission line width and a very red B-Ks color. Both the optical continuum and broad emission lines are reddened by SMC-like dust of E(B-V)~1.0 mag, while its near-infrared color (J-Ks=1.60) shows little reddening. The CaII absorption lines are saturated and resolved with an FWHM of 362 km/s and an equivalent width of W_{CaII K}=4.2Å(in the source rest frame). MgII absorption lines are also saturated and have a similar line width. The line profile and the fact that there is no evidence for starlight from the host galaxy suggest that these absorption lines are not of a stellar origin. The ratio of column density of CaII to that of dust is consistent with that of the ISM in our Galaxy. We suggest that both the heavy reddening and the large absorption line width are due to the highly disturbed ISM on the line of sight toward the quasar, and that the disturbance is caused by a galaxy collision or even merger in the quasar host galaxy.

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