THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE UV AND OPTICAL Fe ii EMISSION LINES IN TYPE 1 AGNs

ABSTRACT We investigate the spectral properties of the UV (λλ2650-3050 ) and optical (λλ4000-5500 ) Fe ii emission features in a sample of 293 Type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey database. We explore different correlations between their emission line properties, as well as the correlations with other emission lines from the spectral range. We find several interesting correlations and outline the most interesting results as follows. (i) There is a kinematical connection between the UV and optical Fe ii lines, indicating that the UV and optical Fe ii lines originate from the outer part of the broad line region, the so-called intermediate line region. (ii) The unexplained anticorrelations of the optical Fe ii equivalent width (EW Fe iiopt) versus EW [O iii] 5007 and EW Fe iiopt versus FWHM Hβ have not been detected for the UV Fe ii lines. (iii) The significant averaged redshift in the UV Fe ii lines, which is not present in optical Fe ii, indicates an inflow in the UV Fe ii emitting clouds, and probably their asymmetric distribution. (iv) Also, we confirm the anticorrelation between the intensity ratio of the optical and UV Fe ii lines and the FWHM of Hβ, and we find the anticorrelations of this ratio with the widths of Mg ii 2800 , optical Fe ii, and UV Fe ii. This indicates a very important role for the column density and microturbulence in the emitting gas. We discuss the starburst activity in high-density regions of young AGNs as a possible explanation of the detected optical Fe ii correlations and intensity line ratios of the UV and optical Fe ii lines.