Submillimetre observations of a sample of broad absorption line quasars

Abstract

The broad absorption line (BAL) features seen in a small fraction of quasar optical/UV spectra are attributed to bulk outflows away from the quasar core. Observational evidence suggests that dust plays a key role in these systems, although whether the inferred dust properties are a signature of orientation effects or whether they are indicative of an evolutionary sequence remains an outstanding issue. Submillimetre (submm) detections of BAL quasars (BALQSOs), which would clearly help to resolve this issue, have so far been sparse. This paper reports on new submm observations of seven BALQSOs. The strongest influence on the observed flux is found to be the redshift, with the two highest redshift sources appearing intrinsically more submm-luminous than the lower redshift ones. Since this trend is also seen in other high redshift AGN, including non-BAL quasars it implies that the dust emission properties of these systems are no different from those of the general AGN population, which is difficult to reconcile with the evolutionary interpretation of the BAL phenomenon.