The most powerful quasar outflows as revealed by the Civ λ1549 resonance line

Abstract

Outflows from quasars may be almost ubiquitous, but there are significant differences on a source- by-source basis. These differences can be organized along the 4D Eigenvector 1 sequence: at low z, only the Population A sources radiating at relatively high Eddington ratio show evidences of prominent high- velocity outflows from the Civλ1549 line profiles. Here we discuss, starting from recent observations of high-luminosity sample of Hamburg-ESO quasars, the Civλ1549 emission line profiles and how they are affected by outflow motion as a function of the quasar luminosity. Our high-luminosity sample has the notable advantage that the rest frame has been set by previous Hβ observations in the J, H, and K band, therefore making measurements of inter-line shift accurate and free of systemic biases. As the redshift increases and the luminosity of the brightest quasars grows, powerful, high-velocity outflows may become more frequent. We then discuss the outflow contextualisation following the 4DE1 approach as a tool for unveiling the nature of the so-called Weak Lined Quasars (WLQs) that have emerged in recent years as a new, poorly understood class of quasars. We estimate the kinetic power associated with the Civλ1549 emitting gas in outflow, and we suggest that the host galaxies of the most luminous sources may experience a significant feedback effect.