v 1 2 7 A pr 1 99 7 Do the Broad Emission Line Clouds See the Same Continuum that We See ?

Recent observations of quasars, Mrk 335 and the HST quasar composite spectrum, have indicated that many of them have remarkably soft ionizing continua (fν ∝ ν , 13.6 eV – 100 eV). We point out that the number of hν > 54.4 eV photons is insufficient to create the observed strengths of the He ii emission lines. While the numbers of photons which energize C iv λ1549 and Ovi λ1034 are sufficient, even the most efficiently emitting clouds for these two lines must each cover at least 20% – 40% of the source. If the typical quasar ionizing continuum is indeed this soft, then we must conclude that the broad emission line clouds must see a very different (harder) continuum than we see. The other viable possibility is that the UV – EUV SED is double-peaked, with the second peaking near 54 eV, its Wien tail the observed soft X-ray excess. Subject headings: line: formation — quasars: emission lines and general — ultraviolet