# Updating quasar bolometric luminosity corrections. III. [O III]   bolometric corrections

**Authors:** Alison Pennell, Jessie C. Runnoe, Michael Brotherton

arXiv: 1703.03431 · 2017-04-12

## TL;DR

This study refines quasar bolometric luminosity estimates using [O III] emission lines by incorporating Eigenvector 1 indicators, significantly reducing uncertainties and improving accuracy for Type 1 quasars.

## Contribution

It introduces an improved [O III] bolometric correction that accounts for Eigenvector 1 effects, enhancing luminosity estimates for Type 1 quasars.

## Key findings

- Inclusion of R_FeII reduces scatter in luminosity estimates.
- The correction is significant at nearly 3 sigma.
- Eigenvector 1 influences the [O III] bolometric correction.

## Abstract

We present quasar bolometric corrections using the [O III] $\lambda5007$ narrow emission line luminosity based on the detailed spectral energy distributions of 53 bright quasars at low to moderate redshift ($0.0345<z<1.0002$). We adopted two functional forms to calculate $L_{\textrm{iso}}$, the bolometric luminosity determined under the assumption of isotropy: $L_{\textrm{iso}}=A\,L_{[O\,III]}$ for comparison with the literature and log$(L_{iso})=B+C\,$log$(L_{[O\,III]})$, which better characterizes the data. We also explored whether "Eigenvector 1", which describes the range of quasar spectral properties and quantifies their diversity, introduces scatter into the $L_{[O\,III]}-L_{iso}$ relationship. We found that the [O III] bolometric correction can be significantly improved by adding a term including the equivalent width ratio $R_{Fe\,II}\equiv EW_{Fe\,II}/EW_{H\beta}$, which is an Eigenvector 1 indicator. Inclusion of $R_{Fe\,II}$ in predicting $L_{iso}$ is significant at nearly the $3\sigma$ level and reduces the scatter and systematic offset of the luminosity residuals. Typically, [O III] bolometric corrections are adopted for Type 2 sources where the quasar continuum is not observed and in these cases, $R_{Fe\,II}$ cannot be measured. We searched for an alternative measure of Eigenvector 1 that could be measured in the optical spectra of Type 2 sources but were unable to identify one. Thus, the main contribution of this work is to present an improved [O III] bolometric correction based on measured bolometric luminosities and highlight the Eigenvector 1 dependence of the correction in Type 1 sources.

## Full text

_Full body text omitted from this summary view._ Fetch the complete paper as Markdown: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1703.03431/full.md

## Figures

16 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1703.03431/full.md

## References

37 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1703.03431/full.md

---
Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1703.03431