Giant scattering cones in obscured quasars

Abstract

We analyse Hubble Space Telescope observations of scattering regions in 20 luminous obscured quasars at 0.24 < z < 0.65 (11 new observations and nine archival ones) observed at rest frame ~3000 Å. We find spectacular 5-10 kpc-scale scattering regions in almost all cases. The median scattering efficiency at this wavelength (the ratio of observed to estimated intrinsic flux) is 2.3, and 73 per cent of the observed flux at this wavelength is due to scattered light, which if unaccounted for may strongly bias estimates of quasar hosts' star formation rates. Modelling these regions as illuminated dusty cones, we estimate the radial density distributions of the interstellar medium as well as the geometric properties of circumnuclear quasar obscuration - inclinations and covering factors. Small derived opening angles (median half-angle and standard deviation 27° ± 9°) are inconsistent with a 1:1 type 1/type 2 ratio. We suggest that quasar obscuration is patchy and that the observer has an ~40 per cent chance of seeing a type 1 source even through the obscuration. We estimate median density profile of the scattering medium to be nH = 0.04-0.5 (1 kpc/r)2 cm-3, depending on the method. Quasars in our sample likely exhibit galaxy-wide winds, but if these consist of optically thick clouds then only a small fraction of the wind mass (≲10 per cent) contributes to scattering.