2016ApJ...822...26G

We investigated the optical/ultraviolet (UV) color variations for a sample of 2169 quasars based on multi-epoch spectroscopy in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data releases seven (DR7) and nine (DR9). To correct the systematic difference between DR7 and DR9 due to the different instrumental setup, we produced a correction spectrum by using a sample of F-stars observed in both DR7 and DR9. The correction spectrum was then applied to quasars when comparing the spectra of DR7 with DR9. In each object, the color variation was explored by comparing the spectral index of the continuum power-law fit on the brightest spectrum with the faintest one, and also by the shape of their difference spectrum. In 1876 quasars with consistent color variations from two methods, we found that most sources (1755, ∼94%) show the bluer-when-brighter (BWB) trend, and the redder-when-brighter (RWB) trend is detected in only 121 objects (∼6%). The common BWB trend is supported by the composite spectrum constructed from bright spectra, which is bluer than that from faint spectra, and also by the blue composite difference spectrum. The correction spectrum is proven to be highly reliable by comparing the composite spectrum from corrected DR9 and original DR7 spectra. Assuming that the optical/UV variability is triggered by fluctuations, the RWB trend can likely be explained if the fluctuations occur first in the outer disk region, and the inner disk region has not yet fully responded when the fluctuations are being propagated inward. In contrast, the common BWB trend implies that the fluctuations likely more often happen first in the inner disk region.