Spiter Observations of the Second Brightest Quasar, PHL 1811

Details Spiter Observations of the Second Brightest Quasar, PHL 1811 Spiter Observations of the Second Brightest Quasar, PHL 1811

May 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006sptz.prop30426l&link_type=abstract

Spitzer Proposal ID #30426

Computer Science

Scientific paper

Discovered in the FIRST radio survey, PHL 1811 (m_B=14.4, z=0.192) is the second brightest quasar beyond z=0.1 after 3C 273. PHL 1811, optically classified as a Narrow-line QSO, is a very unusual object. Undetected in the ROSAT All Sky Survey, five subsequent X-ray observations find it to be consistently X-ray weak, yet the X-ray spectra and variability indicate that the X-rays are neither absorbed nor scattered. It is the most convincing case of an intrinsically X-ray weak quasar, and its UV and optical spectra, dominated by low-ionization line emission, are consistent with an X-ray weak spectral energy distribution (SED). X-rays destroy small dust grains. Since PHL 1811 is intrinsically X-ray weak, it may have a very unusual IR spectrum. It should have a strong near-IR excess due to small dust grains. It may have PAH features that would be unusual in such a luminous object, and it may show emission from amorphous and possibly crystalline silicates. We propose high- and low-resolution Spitzer IRS spectroscopic observations of PHL 1811 to test the IR spectral dependence on the illuminating SED. PHL 1811 is sufficiently bright that this 0.9 hour program will provide high signal-to-noise spectra allowing sensitive detection and measurement of broadband and localized emission and absorption features. Like its unusual X-ray, UV and optical spectra, PHL 1811's IR spectrum is likely to challenge AGN models. To test SED dependence, we will compare PHL 1811's IR properties with those of three carefully-chosen comparison samples: 1.) a luminosity-matched quasar sample; 2.) a NLS1 sample; 3.) a BALQSO sample.

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