Strong Optical and UV Intermediate-Width Emission Lines in the Quasar SDSS J232444.80-094600.3: Dust-Free and Intermediate-Density Gas at the Skin of Dusty Torus ?

TL;DR

This paper analyzes a quasar with unusually strong intermediate-width emission lines, revealing they originate from nearly dust-free, intermediate-density gas located at the dusty torus's skin, offering insights into the gas between broad and narrow line regions.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed analysis of strong intermediate-width emission lines in a quasar, identifying their origin as dust-free, intermediate-density gas at the torus's skin.

Findings

Intermediate-width emission lines are produced by gas at 35-50 pc from the nucleus.

The gas has a density of about 10^{6.2}-10^{6.3} cm^{-3}.

The dust-to-gas ratio is less than 4% of the SMC value.

Abstract

Emission lines from the broad emission line region (BELR) and the narrow emission line region (NELR) of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are extensively studied. However, between these two regions emission lines are rarely detected. We present a detailed analysis of a quasar SDSS J232444.80-094600.3 (SDSS J2324$-$0946), which is remarkable for its strong intermediate-width emission lines (IELs) with FWHM $\approx$ 1800 \kmps. The IEL component is presented in different emission lines, including the permitted lines \lya\ $\lambda$1216, \civ\ $\lambda$1549, semiforbidden line \ciii\ $\lambda$1909, and forbidden lines \oiii\ $\lambda\lambda$4959, 5007. With the aid of photo-ionization models, we found that the IELs are produced by gas with a hydrogen density of $n_{\rm H} \sim 10^{6.2}-10^{6.3}~\rm cm^{-3}$, a distance to the central ionizing source of $R \sim 35-50$ pc, a covering factor of CF $\sim$ 6\%, and a dust-to-gas ratio of $\leq 4\%$ times of SMC. We suggest that the strong IELs of this quasar are produced by nearly dust-free and intermediate-density gas located at the skin of the dusty torus. Such strong IELs, served as a useful diagnose, can provide an avenue to study the properties of gas between the BELR and the NELR.