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arXiv · 2106.09010

Far-UV Fe Emission as Proxy of Eddington Ratios

Wei Zheng
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Abstract

The Eddington ratio is a key parameter that governs the diversity of quasar properties. It can be scaled with a strong anti-correlation between optical Fe II and [O III] emission. In search of such indicators in the far-UV band, the HST far-UV spectra of 150 low-redshift quasars are analyzed in combination with their optical SDSS counterparts. The strength of Fe II+Fe III 1123 emission is significantly correlated with that of optical Fe II. A moderate correlation may also exist between Fe II 1071 and optical Fe II. The finding opens the possibility that far-UV Fe II emission may serve as a new gauge of the Eddington ratios. The high- and low-ionization lines in the far-UV band display different patterns: for the quasars with higher Eddington ratios, the low-ionization UV lines are stronger, and the high-ionization lines are broader and weaker.

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Wei Zheng. 2021-06-16. Far-UV Fe Emission as Proxy of Eddington Ratios. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab1749

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