Variability of broad absorption lines in QSO SDSS J022844.09+000217.0 on multiyear time-scales

Abstract

The variability of broad absorption lines is investigated for a broad-absorption-line (BAL) quasar (QSO), SDSS J022844.09+000217.0 (z = 2.719), with 18 Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)/Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) spectra covering 4128 d in the observed frame. Using the ratio of the root-mean-square (rms) spectrum to the mean spectrum, the relative flux change of the BAL trough is larger than that of the emission lines and the continuum. Fitting a power-law continuum and the emission-line profiles of CIV λ1549 and Si IVλ1399, we calculate the equivalent width (EW) for different epochs, as well as the continuum luminosity and the spectral index. It is found that there is a strong correlation between the BAL-trough EW and the spectral index and a weak negative correlation between the BAL-trough EW and the continuum luminosity. The strong correlation between the BAL-trough EW and the spectral index for this particular QSO suggests that dust is intrinsic to outflows. The weak correlation between the BAL variability and the continuum luminosity for this particular QSO implies that the BAL-trough variation is not dominated by photoionization.© 2014 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.