Daryl Haggard
Northwestern University
Broad absorption line (BAL) quasars provide unique probes of the high velocity gas ejected by luminous accreting black holes---their variability timescales place constraints on the size, location, and dynamics of the emitting and absorbing gas near the SMBH. We have obtained multi-epoch spectroscopy of seventeen BAL QSOs using the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory's 1.5m telescope's FAST Spectrograph. These objects were identified in the SDSS, observed with Chandra, and monitored with FAST at 1, 3, 9, 27, and 81 day, plus 1 and 2 year cadences. We also obtain a complementary set of non-BAL "control" quasar spectra with matched redshifts and luminosities. We search for variability in the broad absorption line region, assess its significance, magnitude, and frequency and discuss the constraints our investigations can put on QSO outflows.
Wednesday, January 11th at Noon
Room F235, Technological Institute
