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

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aa689f

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

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Physics and Astronomy

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

Abstract

We present the first discoveries from a survey of z greater than or similar to 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 9000 deg(2) of sky down to z(AB) similar to 23.0, and UKIDSS and UHS will map the northern sky at 0 <decl. <+ 60 degrees, reaching J(VEGA) similar to 19.6 (5-sigma). The combination of these data sets allows us to discover quasars at redshift z greater than or similar to 7 and to conduct a complete census of the faint quasar population at z greater than or similar to 6. In this paper, we report on the selection method of our search, and on the initial discoveries of two new, faint z greater than or similar to 6 quasars and one new z = 6.63 quasar in our pilot spectroscopic observations. The two new z similar to 6 quasars are at z = 6.07 and z = 6.17 with absolute magnitudes at rest-frame wavelength 1450 angstrom being M-1450 = -25.83 and M-1450 = -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 greater than or similar to 6. The new z = 6.63 quasar has an absolute magnitude of M-1450 = -25.95. This demonstrates the potential of using the combined DECaLS and UKIDSS/UHS data sets to find z greater than or similar to 7 quasars. Extrapolating from previous QLF measurements, we predict that these combined data sets will yield similar to 200 z similar to 6 quasars to z(AB) <21.5, similar to 1000 z similar to 6 quasars to z(AB) <23, and similar to 30 quasars at z > 6.5 to J(VEGA) <19.5.

Original language	English
Article number	27
Number of pages	8
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	839
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa689f
Publication status	Published - 11 Apr 2017

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

galaxies: active
galaxies: high-redshift
quasars: emission lines
quasars: general
DIGITAL SKY SURVEY
FIELD SPECTROGRAPH WIFES
INFRARED-SURVEY-EXPLORER
Z-GREATER-THAN-5.7 QUASARS
LUMINOSITY FUNCTION
ADDITIONAL QUASARS
REDSHIFT
PAN-STARRS1
Z-SIMILAR-TO-6
STRIPE

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Wang, F., Fan, X., Yang, J., Wu, X.-B., Yang, Q., Bian, F., McGreer, I. D., Li, J.-T., Li, Z., Ding, J., Dey, A., Dye, S., Findlay, J. R., Green, R., James, D., Jiang, L., Lang, D., Lawrence, A., Myers, A. D., ... Shanks, T. (2017). First Discoveries of z > 6 Quasars with the DECam Legacy Survey and UKIRT Hemisphere Survey. Astrophysical Journal, 839(1), Article 27. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa689f

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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 greater than or similar to 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 9000 deg(2) of sky down to z(AB) similar to 23.0, and UKIDSS and UHS will map the northern sky at 0 6.5 to J(VEGA) <19.5.",

keywords = "galaxies: active, galaxies: high-redshift, quasars: emission lines, quasars: general, DIGITAL SKY SURVEY, FIELD SPECTROGRAPH WIFES, INFRARED-SURVEY-EXPLORER, Z-GREATER-THAN-5.7 QUASARS, LUMINOSITY FUNCTION, ADDITIONAL QUASARS, REDSHIFT, PAN-STARRS1, Z-SIMILAR-TO-6, STRIPE",

author = "Feige Wang and Xiaohui Fan and Jinyi Yang and Xue-Bing Wu and Qian Yang and Fuyan Bian and McGreer, {Ian D.} and Jiang-Tao Li 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 = apr,

day = "11",

doi = "10.3847/1538-4357/aa689f",

language = "English",

volume = "839",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal",

issn = "0004-637X",

publisher = "IOP Publishing",

number = "1",

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Wang, F, Fan, X, Yang, J, Wu, X-B, Yang, Q, Bian, F, McGreer, ID, Li, J-T, Li, Z, Ding, J, Dey, A, Dye, S, Findlay, JR, Green, R, James, D, Jiang, L, Lang, D, Lawrence, A, Myers, AD, Ross, NP, Schlegel, DJ & Shanks, T 2017, 'First Discoveries of z > 6 Quasars with the DECam Legacy Survey and UKIRT Hemisphere Survey', Astrophysical Journal, vol. 839, no. 1, 27. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa689f

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 - 2017/4/11

Y1 - 2017/4/11

N2 - We present the first discoveries from a survey of z greater than or similar to 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 9000 deg(2) of sky down to z(AB) similar to 23.0, and UKIDSS and UHS will map the northern sky at 0 6.5 to J(VEGA) <19.5.

AB - We present the first discoveries from a survey of z greater than or similar to 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 9000 deg(2) of sky down to z(AB) similar to 23.0, and UKIDSS and UHS will map the northern sky at 0 6.5 to J(VEGA) <19.5.

KW - galaxies: active

KW - galaxies: high-redshift

KW - quasars: emission lines

KW - quasars: general

KW - DIGITAL SKY SURVEY

KW - FIELD SPECTROGRAPH WIFES

KW - INFRARED-SURVEY-EXPLORER

KW - Z-GREATER-THAN-5.7 QUASARS

KW - LUMINOSITY FUNCTION

KW - ADDITIONAL QUASARS

KW - REDSHIFT

KW - PAN-STARRS1

KW - Z-SIMILAR-TO-6

KW - STRIPE

U2 - 10.3847/1538-4357/aa689f

DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/aa689f

M3 - Article

SN - 0004-637X

VL - 839

JO - Astrophysical Journal

JF - Astrophysical Journal

IS - 1

M1 - 27

ER -

First Discoveries of z > 6 Quasars with the DECam Legacy Survey and UKIRT Hemisphere Survey

Abstract

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

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