Quasar Properties from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. II. The Quasars Obtained by the SDSS-IV in the First Two Years

Abstract

Abstract This work aims to measure the properties of continuum and emission lines around C iv , Mg ii , H β , and H α for the quasars observed by the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) during the first two years. We determine the quasar redshifts based on narrow [O iii ] λ 5007, broad Mg ii λ 2799, and/or C iv λ 1548 emission lines. The comparisons between the visual inspection redshifts included in DR14Q and the redshifts determined by us suggest that the visual inspection redshifts would be robust. We also infer the virial black hole mass of quasars based on C iv , Mg ii , H β , and/or H α broad emission lines, using empirical relationships reported by previous studies. Systematic differences are remarkable among different line-based mass estimators reported by previous studies. Using the empirical relationship (Equation (1)), we improve the line-based mass estimators by recalibrating new coefficient ( a , b ), so that different line-based mass estimators are more consistent. We find that ( a , b ) = (0.96, 0.5), (0.91, 0.5), (0.82, 0.5), and (0.77, 0.5) are the best choices for the H α -, H β -, Mg ii -, and C iv -based mass estimators, respectively. All these above properties are publicly available. We also find that the line and continuum luminosities are tightly correlated with each other. The Balmer lines show a negative Baldwin effect, while the metal lines display a positive Baldwin effect. In addition, we find that tight correlations are indwelled in different line luminosities.