FIRST DISCOVERIES OF z > 6 QUASARS WITH THE DECAM LEGACY SURVEY AND UKIRT HEMISPHERE SURVEY

Feige Wang; Xiaohui Fan; Jinyi Yang; Xue Bing Wu; Qian Yang; Fuyan Bian; Ian D. McGreer; Jiang Tao Li; Zefeng Li; Jiani Ding; Arjun Dey; Simon Dye; Joseph R. Findlay; Richard Green; David James; Linhua Jiang; Dustin Lang; Andy Lawrence; Adam D. Myers; Nicholas P. Ross; David J. Schlegel; Tom Shanks

FIRST DISCOVERIES OF z > 6 QUASARS WITH THE DECAM LEGACY SURVEY AND UKIRT HEMISPHERE SURVEY

Feige Wang, Xiaohui Fan, Jinyi Yang, Xue Bing Wu, Qian Yang, Fuyan Bian, Ian D. McGreer, Jiang Tao Li, Zefeng Li, Jiani Ding, Arjun Dey, Simon Dye, Joseph R. Findlay, Richard Green, David James, Linhua Jiang, Dustin Lang, Andy Lawrence, Adam D. Myers, Nicholas P. RossDavid J. Schlegel, Tom Shanks

Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We present the first discoveries from a survey of z & 6 quasars using imaging data from the DECam Legacy Survey (DECaLS) in the optical, the UKIRT Deep Infrared Sky Survey (UKIDSS) and a preliminary version of the UKIRT Hemisphere Survey (UHS) in the near-IR, and ALLWISE in the mid-IR. DECaLS will image 9000deg² of sky down to zAB ∼ 23.0, and UKIDSS and UHS, which will map the northern sky at 0 < DEC < +60^◦, reaching J_VEGA ∼ 19.6 (5-σ). The combination of these datasets allows us to discover quasars at redshift z & 7 and to conduct a complete census of the faint quasar population at z & 6. In this paper, we report on the selection method of our search, and on the initial discoveries of two new, faint z & 6 quasars and one new z = 6.63 quasar in our pilot spectroscopic observations. The two new z ∼ 6 quasars are at z = 6.07 and z = 6.17 with absolute magnitudes at rest-frame wavelength 1450Å being M₁₄₅₀ = −25.83 and M₁₄₅₀ = −25.76, respectively. These discoveries suggest that we can find quasars close to or fainter than the break magnitude of the Quasar Luminosity Function (QLF) at z & 6. The new z = 6.63 quasar has an absolute magnitude of M₁₄₅₀ = −25.95. This demonstrates the potential of using the combined DECaLS and UKIDSS/UHS datasets to find z & 7 quasars. Extrapolating from previous QLF measurements, we predict that these combined datasets will yield ∼ 200 z ∼ 6 quasars to z_AB < 21.5, ∼ 1,000 z ∼ 6 quasars to z_AB < 23, and ∼ 30 quasars at z > 6.5 to J_VEGA < 19.5. Subject headings: galaxies: active — galaxies: high-redshift — quasars: general — quasars: emission lines

Original language	English (US)
Journal	Unknown Journal
State	Published - Mar 21 2017

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FIRST DISCOVERIES OF z > 6 QUASARS WITH THE DECAM LEGACY SURVEY AND UKIRT HEMISPHERE SURVEY. / Wang, Feige; Fan, Xiaohui; Yang, Jinyi; Wu, Xue Bing; Yang, Qian; Bian, Fuyan; McGreer, Ian D.; Li, Jiang Tao; Li, Zefeng; Ding, Jiani; Dey, Arjun; Dye, Simon; Findlay, Joseph R.; Green, Richard; James, David; Jiang, Linhua; Lang, Dustin; Lawrence, Andy; Myers, Adam D.; Ross, Nicholas P.; Schlegel, David J.; Shanks, Tom.

In: Unknown Journal, 21.03.2017.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Wang, Feige ; Fan, Xiaohui ; Yang, Jinyi ; Wu, Xue Bing ; Yang, Qian ; Bian, Fuyan ; McGreer, Ian D. ; Li, Jiang Tao ; Li, Zefeng ; Ding, Jiani ; Dey, Arjun ; Dye, Simon ; Findlay, Joseph R. ; Green, Richard ; James, David ; Jiang, Linhua ; Lang, Dustin ; Lawrence, Andy ; Myers, Adam D. ; Ross, Nicholas P. ; Schlegel, David J. ; Shanks, Tom. / FIRST DISCOVERIES OF z > 6 QUASARS WITH THE DECAM LEGACY SURVEY AND UKIRT HEMISPHERE SURVEY. In: Unknown Journal. 2017.

@article{a2307518c4d44064a3a0c7ff498b6e81,

title = "FIRST DISCOVERIES OF z > 6 QUASARS WITH THE DECAM LEGACY SURVEY AND UKIRT HEMISPHERE SURVEY",

abstract = "We present the first discoveries from a survey of z & 6 quasars using imaging data from the DECam Legacy Survey (DECaLS) in the optical, the UKIRT Deep Infrared Sky Survey (UKIDSS) and a preliminary version of the UKIRT Hemisphere Survey (UHS) in the near-IR, and ALLWISE in the mid-IR. DECaLS will image 9000deg2 of sky down to zAB ∼ 23.0, and UKIDSS and UHS, which will map the northern sky at 0 < DEC < +60◦, reaching JVEGA ∼ 19.6 (5-σ). The combination of these datasets allows us to discover quasars at redshift z & 7 and to conduct a complete census of the faint quasar population at z & 6. In this paper, we report on the selection method of our search, and on the initial discoveries of two new, faint z & 6 quasars and one new z = 6.63 quasar in our pilot spectroscopic observations. The two new z ∼ 6 quasars are at z = 6.07 and z = 6.17 with absolute magnitudes at rest-frame wavelength 1450{\AA} being M1450 = −25.83 and M1450 = −25.76, respectively. These discoveries suggest that we can find quasars close to or fainter than the break magnitude of the Quasar Luminosity Function (QLF) at z & 6. The new z = 6.63 quasar has an absolute magnitude of M1450 = −25.95. This demonstrates the potential of using the combined DECaLS and UKIDSS/UHS datasets to find z & 7 quasars. Extrapolating from previous QLF measurements, we predict that these combined datasets will yield ∼ 200 z ∼ 6 quasars to zAB < 21.5, ∼ 1,000 z ∼ 6 quasars to zAB < 23, and ∼ 30 quasars at z > 6.5 to JVEGA < 19.5. Subject headings: galaxies: active — galaxies: high-redshift — quasars: general — quasars: emission lines",

author = "Feige Wang and Xiaohui Fan and Jinyi Yang and Wu, {Xue Bing} and Qian Yang and Fuyan Bian and McGreer, {Ian D.} and Li, {Jiang Tao} and Zefeng Li and Jiani Ding and Arjun Dey and Simon Dye and Findlay, {Joseph R.} and Richard Green and David James and Linhua Jiang and Dustin Lang and Andy Lawrence and Myers, {Adam D.} and Ross, {Nicholas P.} and Schlegel, {David J.} and Tom Shanks",

year = "2017",

month = mar,

day = "21",

language = "English (US)",

journal = "Nuclear Physics A",

issn = "0375-9474",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - FIRST DISCOVERIES OF z > 6 QUASARS WITH THE DECAM LEGACY SURVEY AND UKIRT HEMISPHERE SURVEY

AU - Wang, Feige

AU - Fan, Xiaohui

AU - Yang, Jinyi

AU - Wu, Xue Bing

AU - Yang, Qian

AU - Bian, Fuyan

AU - McGreer, Ian D.

AU - Li, Jiang Tao

AU - Li, Zefeng

AU - Ding, Jiani

AU - Dey, Arjun

AU - Dye, Simon

AU - Findlay, Joseph R.

AU - Green, Richard

AU - James, David

AU - Jiang, Linhua

AU - Lang, Dustin

AU - Lawrence, Andy

AU - Myers, Adam D.

AU - Ross, Nicholas P.

AU - Schlegel, David J.

AU - Shanks, Tom

PY - 2017/3/21

Y1 - 2017/3/21

N2 - We present the first discoveries from a survey of z & 6 quasars using imaging data from the DECam Legacy Survey (DECaLS) in the optical, the UKIRT Deep Infrared Sky Survey (UKIDSS) and a preliminary version of the UKIRT Hemisphere Survey (UHS) in the near-IR, and ALLWISE in the mid-IR. DECaLS will image 9000deg2 of sky down to zAB ∼ 23.0, and UKIDSS and UHS, which will map the northern sky at 0 < DEC < +60◦, reaching JVEGA ∼ 19.6 (5-σ). The combination of these datasets allows us to discover quasars at redshift z & 7 and to conduct a complete census of the faint quasar population at z & 6. In this paper, we report on the selection method of our search, and on the initial discoveries of two new, faint z & 6 quasars and one new z = 6.63 quasar in our pilot spectroscopic observations. The two new z ∼ 6 quasars are at z = 6.07 and z = 6.17 with absolute magnitudes at rest-frame wavelength 1450Å being M1450 = −25.83 and M1450 = −25.76, respectively. These discoveries suggest that we can find quasars close to or fainter than the break magnitude of the Quasar Luminosity Function (QLF) at z & 6. The new z = 6.63 quasar has an absolute magnitude of M1450 = −25.95. This demonstrates the potential of using the combined DECaLS and UKIDSS/UHS datasets to find z & 7 quasars. Extrapolating from previous QLF measurements, we predict that these combined datasets will yield ∼ 200 z ∼ 6 quasars to zAB < 21.5, ∼ 1,000 z ∼ 6 quasars to zAB < 23, and ∼ 30 quasars at z > 6.5 to JVEGA < 19.5. Subject headings: galaxies: active — galaxies: high-redshift — quasars: general — quasars: emission lines

AB - We present the first discoveries from a survey of z & 6 quasars using imaging data from the DECam Legacy Survey (DECaLS) in the optical, the UKIRT Deep Infrared Sky Survey (UKIDSS) and a preliminary version of the UKIRT Hemisphere Survey (UHS) in the near-IR, and ALLWISE in the mid-IR. DECaLS will image 9000deg2 of sky down to zAB ∼ 23.0, and UKIDSS and UHS, which will map the northern sky at 0 < DEC < +60◦, reaching JVEGA ∼ 19.6 (5-σ). The combination of these datasets allows us to discover quasars at redshift z & 7 and to conduct a complete census of the faint quasar population at z & 6. In this paper, we report on the selection method of our search, and on the initial discoveries of two new, faint z & 6 quasars and one new z = 6.63 quasar in our pilot spectroscopic observations. The two new z ∼ 6 quasars are at z = 6.07 and z = 6.17 with absolute magnitudes at rest-frame wavelength 1450Å being M1450 = −25.83 and M1450 = −25.76, respectively. These discoveries suggest that we can find quasars close to or fainter than the break magnitude of the Quasar Luminosity Function (QLF) at z & 6. The new z = 6.63 quasar has an absolute magnitude of M1450 = −25.95. This demonstrates the potential of using the combined DECaLS and UKIDSS/UHS datasets to find z & 7 quasars. Extrapolating from previous QLF measurements, we predict that these combined datasets will yield ∼ 200 z ∼ 6 quasars to zAB < 21.5, ∼ 1,000 z ∼ 6 quasars to zAB < 23, and ∼ 30 quasars at z > 6.5 to JVEGA < 19.5. Subject headings: galaxies: active — galaxies: high-redshift — quasars: general — quasars: emission lines

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