A COMPARISON OF C-IV AND H-BETA BROAD EMISSION-LINE PROFILES IN LOW-REDSHIFT ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

Recently published IUE spectra of low-redshift QSOs and Seyfert 1 galaxies have permitted a comparison of the profiles of the C IV lambda-1549 and H-beta broad emission lines. A linear correlation between the FWHM values of the profiles has been found in a sample of 19 objects and is verified to not be the result of separate correlations between these parameters and luminosity. Interpreted in terms of the geometry of the broad-line region, this result is contrary to models which predict low-ionization line emission from an optically thick, geometrically thin accretion disk surrounding the central object. Current evidence favors a model in which broad-line emission arises predominantly in a stratified ensemble of clouds moving radially relative to the central continuum source.