No abstract

In a spectroscopic follow-up to the VLA FIRST survey, the FIRST Bright Quasar Survey (FBQS) has found 29 radio-selected broad absorption line (BAL) quasars. This sample provides the first opportunity to study the properties of radio-selected BAL quasars. Contrary to most previous studies, we establish that a significant population of radio-loud BAL quasars exists. Radio-selected BAL quasars display compact radio morphologies and possess both steep and flat radio spectra. Quasars with low-ionization BALs have a color distribution redder than that of the FBQS sample as a whole. The frequency of BAL quasars in the FBQS is significantly greater, perhaps by as much as factor of two, than that inferred from optically selected samples. The frequency of BAL quasars appears to have a complex dependence on radio-loudness. The properties of this sample appear inconsistent with simple unified models in which BAL quasars constitute a subset of quasars seen edge-on.

We present the first dynamical analysis of a galaxy cluster to include a large fraction of dwarf galaxies. Our sample of 108 Fornax Cluster members measured with the UK Schmidt Telescope FLAIR-II spectrograph contains 55 dwarf galaxies (15.5 > b J > 18.0 or −16 > M B > −13.5). Hα emission shows that 36±8% of the dwarfs are star-forming, twice the fraction implied by morphological classifications. The total sample has a mean velocity of 1493 ± 36 km s −1 and a velocity dispersion of 374 ± 26 km s −1 . The dwarf galaxies form a distinct population: their velocity dispersion (429 ± 41 km s −1 ) is larger than that of the giants (308±30 km s −1 ) at the 98% confidence level. This suggests that the dwarf population is dominated by infalling objects whereas the giants are virialized.The Fornax system has two components; the main Fornax Cluster centered on NGC 1399 with cz = 1478 km s −1 and σ cz = 370 km s −1 , and a subcluster centered 3 degrees to the south-west including NGC 1316 with cz = 1583 km s −1 and σ cz = 377 km s −1 . This partition is preferred over a single cluster at the 99% confidence level. The subcluster, a site of intense star formation, is bound to Fornax and probably infalling towards the cluster core for the first time. We discuss the implications of this