3C 120 and the like

Dereddened DR7 quasar spectra for Ali Rafiee.

Outlined steps to improve selection of PHL 1811 analogs.

Posted comments on a paper on shareflow.

Downloaded and coadded IUE spectra of 3C 120 as a test of what quasar spectra look like at 20.5+-1.8 degrees from face-on (as determined by the radio jet orientation; Jorstad et al 2005). C IV peak is redshifted by ~104 km/s relative to Mg II peak (assuming 1:1 doublet ratios in both lines). Naively I would have expected C IV to be blueshifted. (Mg II is blueshifted by 261 km/s from NED redshift, but within the uncertainties/systematics all three redshifts are probably consistent.) So it may be that in radio-loud quasars the disk wind is suppressed, which means that studying the emission-line profiles of RLQs where you know the inclination doesn't tell you anything about RQQs at similar inclinations. Problematic for my idea of an HST proposal for gamma-ray loud NLS1s. But I can still try and see what disk wind parameters at inclination i=20 do and do not match the 3C 120 C IV line profile; the results may be interesting.

Another approach to studying the line profiles of objects with known inclinations would be to turn to the handful of radio-quiet/intermediate quasars known or thought to have superluminal motion. Such objects may still show disk-wind dominated dynamics, and their beamed nature means they're likely close to the line of sight.* There are 4 such RIQs (beamed RQQs), the 1st 2 of which have confirmed superluminal motions:
PG 1407+263, Blundell et al. 2003ApJ...591L.103B [known to have large blueshifts];
III Zw 2, 1996ApJ...473L..13F & 2000A&A...357L..45B (though i<41 there was overruled by 2005 paper) & 2005A&A...435..497B;
PG 1309+355, 1996ApJ...473L..13F;
PG 2209+184, 1996ApJ...473L..13F.
There is HST y/o IUE data on all of these, at which I'm starting to take a look.

* Caveat: need to keep in mind that beaming depends very much on jet velocity as well as angle to the line of sight. It may be that RIQs are the subpopulation of RQQs with the highest jet speeds, rather than the subpopulation seen at very small angles to the jet.