Composite Spectra from the FIRST Bright Quasar Survey

Abstract

We present a very high signal-to-noise ratio composite spectrum created using\n657 radio-selected quasars from the FIRST Bright Quasar Survey. The spectrum\nspans rest-frame wavelengths 900 - 7500 Angstroms. Additionally we present\ncomposite spectra formed from subsets of the total data set in order to\ninvestigate the spectral dependence on radio loudness and the presence of broad\nabsorption. In particular, radio-loud quasars are red compared to radio-quiet\nquasars, and quasars showing low-ionization broad absorption lines are red\ncompared to other quasars. We compare our composites with those from the Large\nBright Quasar Survey. Composite quasar spectra have proven to be valuable tools\nfor a host of applications, and in that spirit we make these publically\navailable via the FIRST survey web page.\n