Paper detail

Reverberation in the UV-Optical Continuum Brightness Fluctuations of MACHO Quasar 13.5962.237

We examine the nature of brightness fluctuations in the UV-Optical spectral region of an ordinary quasar with 881 optical brightness measurements made during the epoch 1993 - 1999. We find evidence for systematic trends having the character of a pattern of reverberations following an initial disturbance. The initial pulses have brightness increases of order 20% and pulse widths of 50 days, and the reverberations have typical amplitudes of 12% with longer mean pulse widths of order 80 days and pulse separations of order 90 days. The repeat pattern occurs over the same time scales whether the initial disturbance is a brightening or fading. The lags of the pulse trains are comparable to the lags seen previously in reverberation of the broad blue-shifted emission lines following brightness disturbances in Seyfert galaxies, when allowance is made for the mass of the central object. In addition to the burst pulse trains, we find evidence for a semi-periodicity with a time scale of 2 years. These strong patterns of brightness fluctuations suggest a method of discovering quasars from photometric monitoring alone, with data of the quality expected from large brightness monitoring programs like Pann-Stars and LSST.

preprint2009arXivOpen access

Signal facts

What is known right now

Open access3 authors2 topics

Next steps

Decide what to do with this paper

Use like or dislike for the fast social read. The more specific scholarly feedback stays available below when needed.

Log in to curate

Reading frame

Keep the important context close to the paper

Keep the important signals around this paper in one place: votes, save state, collection context, reviews and the metadata you need before deciding what to do next.

Institutions

Add specific reaction

Move through the context

Research map

Open full explorer

Move through nearby people, institutions, topics and adjacent work without leaving the paper page.

Building this map preview

BZPEER is loading the nearby papers, people, topics and institutions for this page.

Structured reviews

0 review(s)

ContributeLeave structured feedbackUse the review template when you have a concrete strength, concern or method question.Open review form

No structured reviews yet. High-signal critique starts here.

Work discussion

0 comment(s)

DiscussAdd a high-signal commentKeep quick notes, caveats and replication pointers separate from formal reviews.Open comment form

No discussion yet. The first strong comment sets the tone.