Reverberation Mapping of the Optical Continua of 57 MACHO Quasars

TL;DR

This study uses autocorrelation analysis of optical light curves from 57 MACHO quasars to measure reverberation lags, revealing wind structure sizes and geometries consistent with elliptical outflow models.

Contribution

It provides the first large-scale measurement of reverberation lags in MACHO quasars, supporting elliptical outflow wind models with specific size and structural parameters.

Findings

Reverberation lag of approximately 544 light days detected.

Wind surface structure variable measured at 11.87 degrees.

Supports elliptical outflow wind model for quasars.

Abstract

Autocorrelation analyses of the optical continua of 57 of the 59 MACHO quasars reveal structure at proper time lags of 544 +- 5.2 days with a standard deviation of 77 light days. Interpreted in the context of reverberation from elliptical outflow winds as proposed by Elvis (2000) [1], this implies an approximate characteristic size scale for winds in the MACHO quasars of 544 +- 5.2 light days. The internal structure variable of these reflecting outflow surfaces is found to be 11.87 degrees +- 0.40 degrees with a standard deviation of 2.03 degrees.