A catalog of quasar properties from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey
Chen Zhi-Fu, Pan Da-Sheng, Pang Ting-Ting, Huang Yong

TL;DR
This paper provides a detailed catalog of quasar spectral properties from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, improving black hole mass estimators and validating redshift measurements using emission lines.
Contribution
It offers new measurements of quasar spectral features, compares different emission line-based redshifts, and refines black hole mass estimation methods using a large quasar sample.
Findings
Halpha and Hbeta FWHMs are consistent
Systematic offset between Hbeta and Halpha mass estimates
Improved mass estimators with optimized coefficients
Abstract
Using the quasars with z_em < 0.9 from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, we measure the spectral characteristics, including continuum and emission lines, around the Hbeta and Halpha spectral regions, which are lacking in Quasar Data Release 12 (DR12Q). We estimate the virial black hole mass from broad Halpha and/or \hbeta, and infer quasar redshifts from O III5007 emission lines. All the measurements and derived quantities are publicly available. The comparison between O III5007 based redshifts and the visual inspection redshifts included in DR12Q indicates that the visual inspection redshifts are robust. We find that the FWHMs of the broad Halpha are consistent with those of the broad Hbeta, while both the equivalent widths and line luminosities of the broad Halpha are obviously larger than the corresponding quantities of the broad Hbeta. We also find that there is an…
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