The Intrinsically X-ray Weak Quasar PHL 1811. II. Optical and UV Spectra and Analysis

Abstract

This is the second of two papers reporting observations and analysis of the unusually bright (m_b=14.4), luminous (M_B=-25.5), nearby (z=0.192) narrow-line quasar PHL 1811. The first paper reported that PHL 1811 is intrinsically X-ray weak, and presented a spectral energy distribution (SED). Here we present HST STIS optical and UV spectra, and ground-based optical spectra. The optical and UV line emission is very unusual. There is no evidence for forbidden or semiforbidden lines. The near-UV spectrum is dominated by very strong FeII and FeIII, and unusual low-ionization lines such as NaID and CaII H&K are observed. High-ionization lines are very weak; CIV has an equivalent width of 6.6A, a factor of ~5 smaller than measured from quasar composite spectra. An unusual feature near 1200A can be deblended in terms of Lyα, NV, SiII, and CIII* using the blueshifted CIV profile as a template. Photoionization modeling shows that the unusual line emission can be explained qualitatively by the unusually soft SED. Principally, a low gas temperature results in inefficient emission of collisionally excited lines, including the semiforbidden lines generally used as density diagnostics. The emission resembles that of high-density gas; in both cases this is a consequence of inefficient cooling. PHL 1811 is very unusual, but we note that quasar surveys are generally biased against finding similar objects.