Ultraviolet spectra of quasars in the redshift interval 0.3 to 2.0.

Abstract

UV spectroscopic observations of nine QSOs with z = 0.3-2.0, obtained with the IUE SWP and LWR(P) instruments during 1978-1983, are reported. The continuum emission is attributed to the combination of a 20,000-30,000-K blackbody (the source of most of the UV emission), Balmer emission, and a power-law component (extending to the X-ray emission). The mean parameters of the broad-line region are shown to be similar to those of high-z QSOs. It is inferred that the broad-line region is small and as close to the source of ionizing radiation as 0.2 pc.