Elemental Abundances from Intrinsic QSO Emission and Absorption Lines

dc.creatorHamann, F.
dc.date1998-06-06
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T02:27:08Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T02:27:08Z
dc.descriptionSeveral studies have shown that the column densities inferred from broad absorption lines (BALs) require extremely high metallicities and phosphorus overabundances -- apparently in conflict with other abundance diagnostics. Here I use HST spectroscopy of the BALQSO PG 1254+047 to argue that the BALs abundance estimates are incorrect, because partial line-of-sight coverage of the continuum source(s) has led to gross underestimates of the line optical depths and column densities. I claim that the significant presence of PV 1118,1128 absorption in this and other BALQSOs identifies the saturated absorption-line spectrum. This interpretation implies that the total column densities are at least ten times larger than previous estimates, namely log N_H(cm-2) > 22. The outflowing BAL gas, at velocities from -15,000 to -27,000 km/s in PG 1254+047, is therefore a strong candidate for the X-ray absorber in BALQSOs. If this high-column density outflow is radiately accelerated, it must originate <0.1 pc from the QSO.
dc.description7 pages LaTeX with 2 figs. embedded
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9806101
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9806101
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/12561
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleElemental Abundances from Intrinsic QSO Emission and Absorption Lines
dc.typetext

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