Spectroscopic identification of type 2 quasars at z < 1 in SDSS-III/BOSS

Sihan Yuan, Michael A. Strauss, Nadia L. Zakamska

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

42 Scopus citations

Abstract

The physics and demographics of type 2 quasars remain poorly understood, and new samples of such objects selected in a variety of ways can give insight into their physical properties, evolution, and relationship to their host galaxies. We present a sample of 2758 type 2 quasars at z ≲ 1 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III (SDSS-III)/Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) spectroscopic data base, selected on the basis of their emission-line properties. We probe the luminous end of the population by requiring the rest-frame equivalent width of [O III] to be > 100 Å. We distinguish our objects from star-forming galaxies and type 1 quasars using line widths, standard emission line ratio diagnostic diagrams at z < 0.52 and detection of [Ne V]λ3426 Å at z > 0.52. The majority of our objects have [OIII] luminosities in the range 1.2 × 1042-3.8 × 1043 erg s-1 and redshifts between 0.4 and 0.65. Our sample includes over 400 type 2 quasars with incorrectly measured redshifts in the BOSS data base; such objects often show kinematic substructure or outflows in the [OIII] line. The majority of the sample has counterparts in the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer survey, with median infrared luminosity νLν[12 μm] = 4.2 × 1044 erg s-1. Only 34 per cent of the newly identified type 2 quasars would be selected by infrared colour cuts designed to identify obscured active nuclei, highlighting the difficulty of identifying complete samples of type 2 quasars. We make public the multi-Gaussian decompositions of all [OIII] profiles for the new sample and for 568 type 2 quasars from SDSS I/II, together with non-parametric measures of the [OIII] line profile shapes. We also identify over 600 candidate double-peaked [O III] profiles.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1603-1615
Number of pages13
JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume462
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 21 2016

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

Keywords

  • Galaxies: active
  • Quasars: emission lines
  • Quasars: general

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