Bibcode
Hutsemékers, D.; Agís González, B.; Sluse, D.; Ramos Almeida, C.; Acosta Pulido, J. A.
Bibliographical reference
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 604, id.L3, 4 pp.
Advertised on:
7
2017
Journal
Citations
29
Refereed citations
25
Description
If the disappearance of the broad emission lines observed in
changing-look quasars were caused by the obscuration of the quasar core
through moving dust clouds in the torus, high linear polarization
typical of type 2 quasars would be expected. We measured the
polarization of the changing-look quasar J1011+5442 in which the broad
emission lines have disappeared between 2003 and 2015. We found a
polarization degree compatible with null polarization. This measurement
suggests that the observed change of look is not due to a change of
obscuration hiding the continuum source and the broad line region, and
that the quasar is seen close to the system axis. Our results thus
support the idea that the vanishing of the broad emission lines in
J1011+5442 is due to an intrinsic dimming of the ionizing continuum
source that is most likely caused by a rapid decrease in the rate of
accretion onto the supermassive black hole.
Based on observations made with the William Herschel telescope operated
on the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes in the
Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de
Astrofísica de Canarias.
Related projects
Nuclear Activity in Galaxies: a 3D Perspective from the Nucleus to the Outskirts
This project consists of two main research lines. First, the study of quasar-driven outflows in luminous and nearby obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN) and the impact that they have on their massive host galaxies (AGN feedback). To do so, we have obtained Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC) infrared and optical observations with the instruments
Cristina
Ramos Almeida