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Following the high activity of the γ -ray Fermi source 4FGL J0449.1+1121 (PKS 0446+112), possibly associated with a IceCube neutrino event IC-240105A, we obtained optical spectroscopy with the Gran Telescopio Canarias of the counterpart. We detect a clear emission line at 3830 Å identified as Ly α that confirms the redshift of source at z = 2.153. Comparing with previous spectroscopy, we find an increase of the continuum by a factor ∼10, and a significant decrease of the C iv 1550 emission line flux by a factor ∼5. This produces a dramatic drop of the equivalent width from ∼20 to 0.8 Å, which is suggestive of a very high jet activity. The full width half maximum of the emission lines are midway (1000–2000 km s ^−1 ) between those typical of the broad and narrow regions of quasars. Based on this, the source classification is intermediate between flat spectrum radio quasar and BL Lac object.

The properties of circum-galactic gas in the halo of quasar host galaxies are investigated analyzing Mg II 2800 and C IV 1540 absorption-line systems along the line of sight close to quasars. We used optical spectroscopy of closely aligned pairs of quasars (projected distance ≤ 200 kpc, but at very different redshift) obtained at the VLT and Gran Telescopio Canarias to investigate the distribution of the absorbing gas for a sample of quasars at z ~1. Absorption systems of EW ≥0.3 associated with the foreground quasars are revealed up to 200 kpc from the centre of the host galaxy, showing that the structure of the absorbing gas is patchy with a covering fraction quickly decreasing beyond 100 kpc. In this contribution we use optical and near-IR images obtained at VLT to investigate the relations between the properties of the circum-galactic medium of the host galaxies and of the large scale galaxy environments of the foreground quasars.

We investigate the host galaxy and environment properties of a sample of 400 low z (

The Fermi Gamma-ray Observatory discovered about a thousand extragalactic sources emitting energy from 100 MeV to 100 GeV. The majority of these sources belong to the class of blazars characterized by a quasi-featureless optical spectrum (BL Lac Objects). This hampers the determination of their redshift and therefore hinders the characterization of this class of objects. To investigate the nature of these sources and to determine their redshift, we are carrying out an extensive campaign using the 10 m Gran Telescopio Canarias to obtain high S/N ratio optical spectra. These observations allow us to confirm the blazar nature of the targets, to find new redshifts or to set stringent limits on the redshift based on the minimum equivalent width of specific absorption features that can be measured in the spectrum and are expected from their host galaxy, assuming it is a massive elliptical galaxy. These results are of importance for the multi-frequencies emission models of the blazars, to test their extreme physics, to shed light on their cosmic evolution and abundance in the far Universe. These gamma emitters are also of great importance for the characterization of the extragalactic background light through the absorption by the IR-optical background photons.

The MBH-Mhost relation in quasars has been probed only in a limited parameter space, namely, at MBH∼109 M⊙ and Mhost∼1012 M⊙. Here we present a study of 26 quasars laying in the low-mass end of the relation, down to MBH∼107 M⊙. We selected quasars from the SDSS and HST-FOS archives, requiring modest MBH (as derived through the virial paradigm). We imaged our sources in H band from the Nordic Optical Telescope. The quasar host galaxies have been resolved in 25 out of 26 observed targets. Host galaxy luminosities and stellar masses are computed, under reasonable assumptions on their star formation histories. Combining these results with those from our previous studies, we manage to extend the sampled parameter space of the MBH-Mhost relation in quasars. The relation holds over 2 dex in both the parameters. For the first time, we are able to measure the slope of the MBH-Mhost relation in quasars. We find that it is consistent with the linear case (similarly to what observed in quiescent galaxies). We do not find any evidence of a population of massive black holes lying below the relation.