A quasar catalog with simultaneous UV, optical, and X-ray observations by Swift

Jian Wu, Daniel Vanden Berk, Dirk Grupe, Scott Koch, Jonathan Gelbord, Donald P. Schneider, Caryl Gronwall, Sarah Wesolowski, Blair L. Porterfield

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

We have compiled a catalog of optically selected quasars with simultaneous observations in UV/optical and X-ray bands by the Swift Gamma-ray Burst Explorer. Objects in this catalog are identified by matching the Swift pointings with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5 quasar catalog. The final catalog contains 843 objects, among which 637 have both Ultraviolet Optical Telescope (UVOT) and X-Ray Telescope (XRT) observations and 354 of which are detected by both instruments. The overall X-ray detection rate is ∼60% which rises to ∼85% among sources with at least 10ks of XRT exposure time. We construct the time-averaged spectral energy distribution (SED) for each of the 354 quasars using UVOT photometric measurements and XRT spectra. From model fits to these SEDs, we find that the big blue bump contributes about ∼0.3dex to the quasar luminosity. We re-visit the α ox-L 2500Å relation by selecting a clean sample with only Type 1 radio-quiet quasars; the dispersion of this relation is reduced by at least 15% compared with studies that use non-simultaneous UV/optical and X-ray data. We only found a weak correlation between L bol/L Edd and α UV. We do not find significant correlations between α x and α ox, α ox and α UV, and α x and log L(0.3-10 keV). The correlations between α UV and α x, α ox and α x, α ox and α UV, L bol/L Edd and α x, and L bol/L Edd and α ox are stronger among low-redshift quasars, indicating that these correlations are likely driven by the changes of SED shape with accretion state.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number10
JournalAstrophysical Journal, Supplement Series
Volume201
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2012

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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