Bisogni, SusannaSusannaBisogniLUSSO, ELISABETAELISABETALUSSOMarconi, AlessandroAlessandroMarconiRISALITI, GuidoGuidoRISALITI2021-01-132021-01-1320190035-8711http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/29745We recently proposed the equivalent width (EW) of the narrow [O III]5007 Å emission line as an orientation indicator for active galactic nuclei. We tested this method on about 12 300 optically selected broad-line quasars from the SDSS seventh Data Release at redshift z < 0.8 and with full width at half-maximum values of broad emission lines (H α, H β, and Mg II) larger than 2000 km s<SUP>-1</SUP>. We now examine their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) using broad-band photometry from the near-infrared to the ultraviolet to look for variations in the overall shape as a function of the EW[O III]. We find that quasars with low EW[O III] values (close to face-on position) have flatter near-infrared SEDs with respect to sources with high EW[O III] values (almost edge-on). Moreover, quasars with high EW[O III] values show a factor of ∼2 lower emission in the UV to quasars with low EW[O III] values. Our findings indicate that the torus is clumpy and, on average, co-axial with the accretion disc and broad-line region, in agreement with the most recent theoretical models for the obscuring torus.STAMPAenArticle10.1093/mnras/stz4952-s2.0-85072283995000466786400097https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/485/1/1405/53221892019MNRAS.485.1405BFIS/05 - ASTRONOMIA E ASTROFISICAERC sectors::Physical Sciences and Engineering::PE9 Universe sciences: astro-physics/chemistry/biology; solar systems; stellar, galactic and extragalactic astronomy, planetary systems, cosmology, space science, instrumentation::PE9_6 Stars and stellar systems