Discovery of the Transition of a Mini-Broad Absorption Line into Broad Absorption in the SDSS Quasar J115122.14+020426.3

TL;DR

This paper reports the rare observation of a mini-broad absorption line in a quasar transforming into a broad absorption line over nearly three years, revealing insights into the evolution of quasar outflows.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed case of a mini-broad absorption line evolving into a broad absorption line, suggesting they are part of a continuous phase in quasar outflow development.

Findings

Mini-broad absorption line strengthened and broadened over 2.86 years.

Partial covering indicates a transverse absorber size of ~6 x 10^16 cm.

Absorbers may not be intrinsically separate classes but different phases of the same phenomenon.

Abstract

We present the detection of a rare case of dramatic strengthening in the UV absorption profiles in the spectrum of the quasar J115122.14+020426.3 between observations ~2.86 years apart in the quasar rest-frame. A 2001 spectrum from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) shows a CIV "mini-broad" absorption line (FWHM=1,220 km/s) with a maximum blueshift velocity ~9,520 km/s, while a later spectrum from the Very Large Telescope (VLT) shows significantly broader and stronger absorption line, with a maximum blueshift velocity of ~12,240 km/s, that qualifies as a broad absorption line. A similar variability pattern is observed in two additional systems at lower blueshifted velocities and in the Lya and NV transitions as well. One of the absorption systems appears to be resolved and shows evidence for partial covering of the quasar continuum source (Cf~0.65), indicating a transverse absorber size of, at least, ~6 x 10^(16) cm. In contrast, a cluster of narrower CIV lines appears to originate in gas that fully covers the continuum and broad emission line sources. There is no evidence for changes in the centroid velocity of the absorption troughs. This case suggests that, at least some of the absorbers that produce "mini-broad" and broad absorption lines in quasar spectra do not belong to intrinsically separate classes. Here, the "mini-broad" absorption line is most likely interpreted as an intermediate phase before the appearance of a broad absorption line due to their similar velocity. While the current observations do not provide enough constraints to discern among the possible causes for this variability, future monitoring of multiple transitions at high resolution will help achieve this goal.