Constraining the shielded wind scenario in PG 2112+059

The physical scenario describing the origin of quasar winds remains largely unsettled due to our failure to account for X-ray weak BAL quasars. We approach this problem by studying the relation between the inner part of the outflow which is likely to be shielding the X-ray emission and thereby helping to drive the UV winds characterised by broad absorption lines (BALs). In particular, we aim to probe the wind-shield connection in the highly X-ray variable BAL quasar PG 2112+059, which has exhibited periods of X-ray weakness and X-ray normality in the past. A set of two 20 ks Chandra observations and two contemporaneous HST observations, separated by at least eight months, combined with a nearly simultaneous archival Chandra-HST observation from 2002, afford us a unique opportunity to study the connection between the shield (which is thought to be responsible for the X-ray absorption) and the ionisation state of the wind (observed as UV BAL features; e.g., C IV and O VI lines) over various timescales.