ESO Very Large Telescope optical spectroscopy of BL Lacertae objects. I. New redshifts

B. Sbarufatti, A. Treves, R. Falomo, J. Heidt, J. Kotilainen, R. Scarpa

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

67 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report redshift measurements for 12 BL Lacertae objects from a program aimed at obtaining high signal-to-noise ratio (up to ∼500) optical spectroscopy of a mixed sample of objects. The new observations, gathered with the 8 m ESO Very Large Telescope, allowed us to detect weak spectral features down to a line equivalent width as small as ∼1 Å. The new redshifts fall in the 0.2-1.3 interval. For nine objects we observe emission lines from the active nucleus. In the remaining three cases absorption lines from the host galaxy are found. For two objects we also detect absorption lines from intervening systems.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)559-566
Number of pages8
JournalAstronomical Journal
Volume129
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2005

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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