First Discoveries of z > 6 Quasars with the DECam Legacy Survey and UKIRT Hemisphere Survey
- Author(s): Wang, F
- Fan, X
- Yang, J
- Wu, XB
- Yang, Q
- Bian, F
- McGreer, ID
- Li, JT
- 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
- et al.
Published Web Location
https://arxiv.org/pdf/1703.07490.pdfAbstract
© 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. 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 9000 deg2 of sky down to z AB ∼ 23.0, and UKIDSS and UHS will map the northern sky at 0 < decl. < +607deg;, reaching J VEGA ∼ 19.6 (5-σ). The combination of these data sets 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 Å 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 ≳ 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 ≳ 7 quasars. Extrapolating from previous QLF measurements, we predict that these combined data sets will yield ∼200 z ∼ 6 quasars to z AB < 21.5, ∼1000 z ∼ 6 quasars to z AB < 23, and ∼30 quasars at z > 6.5 to J VEGA < 19.5.