The discovery of the first He Iλ 10830 broad absorption line quasar

Abstract

We report the discovery of the first He I*λ 10830 broad absorption line quasar FBQS J1151+3822. Using new infrared and optical spectra, as well as the SDSS spectrum, we extracted the apparent optical depth profiles as a function of velocity of the 3889 Å and 10830 Å He I* absorption lines. Since these lines have the same lower levels, inhomogeneous absorption models could be used to extract the average true He I* column density; the log of that number was 14.9. The total hydrogen column density was obtained using Cloudy models. A range of ionization parameters and densities were allowed, with the lower limit on the ionization parameter of log U = -1.4 determined by the requirement that there be sufficient He I*, and the upper limit on the density of log n = 8 determined by the lack of Balmer absorption. Simulated UV spectra showed that the ionization parameter could be further constrained in principle using a combination of low-and high-ionization lines (such as Mg II and P v), but the only density-sensitive line predicted to be observable and not significantly blended was C IIIλ 1176. We estimated the outflow rate and kinetic energy, finding them to be consistent but on the high side compared with analyses of other objects. Assuming that radiative line driving is the responsible acceleration mechanism, a force multiplier model was constructed. A dynamical argument using the model results strongly constrained the density to be log n ≥ ∼7. Consequently, the log hydrogen column density is constrained to be between 21.7 and 22.9, the mass outflow rate to be between 11 and 56 solar masses per year, the ratio of the mass outflow rate to the accretion rate to be between 1.2 and 5.8, and the kinetic energy to be between 1 and 5 × 1044 erg s-1. We discuss the advantages of using He I* to detect high column density BALQSOs and measure their properties. We find that the large λfik ratio of 23.3 between the 10830 Å and 3889 Å components makes He I * analysis sensitive to a large range of high column densities. We discuss the prospects for finding other He I*λ 10830 BALQSOs and examine the advantages of studying the properties of a sample identified using He I*. © 2011. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.