Discovery of a z=0.65 Post-Starburst BAL Quasar in the DES Supernova Fields

Kavli Affiliate: R. G. McMahon

| First 5 Authors: Dale Mudd, Paul Martini, Suk Sien Tie, Chris Lidman, Richard McMahon

| Summary:

We present the discovery of a z=0.65 low-ionization broad absorption line
(LoBAL) quasar in a post-starburst galaxy in data from the Dark Energy Survey
(DES) and spectroscopy from the Australian Dark Energy Survey (OzDES). LoBAL
quasars are a minority of all BALs, and rarer still is that this object also
exhibits broad FeII (an FeLoBAL) and Balmer absorption. This is the first BAL
quasar that has signatures of recently truncated star formation, which we
estimate ended about 40 Myr ago. The characteristic signatures of an FeLoBAL
require high column densities, which could be explained by the emergence of a
young quasar from an early, dust-enshrouded phase, or by clouds compressed by a
blast wave. The age of the starburst component is comparable to estimates of
the lifetime of quasars, so if we assume the quasar activity is related to the
truncation of the star formation, this object is better explained by the blast
wave scenario.

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