DESI z >~ 5 Quasar Survey. I. A First Sample of 400 New Quasars at z ~ 4.7-6.6

分类： 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间： 2023-02-19

Jinyi Yang Xiaohui Fan Ansh Gupta Adam Myers Nathalie Palanque-Delabrouille Feige Wang Christophe Yèche Jessica Nicole Aguilar Steven Ahlen David Alexander David Brooks Kyle Dawson Axel de la Macorra Arjun Dey Govinda Dhungana Kevin Fanning Andreu Font-Ribera Satya Gontcho Julien Guy Klaus Honscheid

摘要： We report the first results of a high-redshift ($z$ >~ 5) quasar survey using the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). As a DESI secondary target program, this survey is designed to carry out a systematic search and investigation of quasars at $z$ >~ 5, up to redshift 6.8. The target selection is based on the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys (the Legacy Surveys) DR9 photometry, combined with the Pan-STARRS1 data and $J$-band photometry from public surveys. A first quasar sample has been constructed from the DESI Survey Validation 3 (SV3) and first-year observations until May 2022. This sample includes more than 400 new quasars at redshift 4.7 = 5, more than one third of existing quasars previously published at this redshift. The observations so far result in an average success rate of 23% at $z$ > 4.7. The current spectral dataset has already allowed analysis of interesting individual objects (e.g., quasars with damped Ly$\alpha$ absorbers and broad absorption line features), and statistical analysis will follow the survey's completion. A set of science projects will be carried out leveraging this program, including quasar luminosity function, quasar clustering, intergalactic medium, quasar spectral properties, intervening absorbers, and properties of early supermassive black holes. Additionally, a sample of 38 new quasars at $z$ ~ 3.8-5.7 discovered from a pilot survey in the DESI SV1 is also published in this paper.

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