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- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/620/A118
- Title:
- Highly Accreting Quasars: SDSS Low z Catalog
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/620/A118
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The most highly accreting quasars are of special interest in studies of the physics of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and host galaxy evolution. Quasars accreting at high rates (L/LEdd~1) hold promise for use as "standard candles": distance indicators detectable at very high redshift. However, their observational properties are still largely unknown. We seek to identify a significant number of extreme accretors. A large sample can clarify the main properties of quasars radiating near L/LEdd~1 (in this paper they are designated as extreme Population A quasars or simply as extreme accretors) in the H{beta} spectral range for redshift <~0.8. We use selection criteria derived from four-dimensional Eigenvector 1 (4DE1) studies to identify and analyze spectra for a sample of 334 candidate sources identified from the SDSS DR7 database. The source spectra were chosen to show a ratio R_FeII_ between the FeII emission blend at {lambda}4570 and H{beta}, R_FeII_ > 1. Composite spectra were analyzed for systematic trends as a function of FeII strength, line width, and [OIII] strength. We introduced tighter constraints on the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) and R_FeII_ values that allowed us to isolate sources most likely to be extreme accretors. We provide a database of detailed measurements. Analysis of the data allows us to confirm that H{beta} shows a Lorentzian function with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of H{beta}<=4000km/s. We find no evidence for a discontinuity at 2000km/s in the 4DE1, which could mean that the sources below this FWHM value do not belong to a different AGN class. Systematic [OIII] blue shifts, as well as a blueshifted component in H{beta} are revealed. We interpret the blueshifts as related to the signature of outflowing gas from the quasar central engine. The FWHM of H{beta} is still affected by the blueshifted emission; however, the effect is non-negligible if the FWHM H{beta} is used as a "virial broadening estimator" (VBE). We emphasize a strong effect of the viewing angle on H{beta} broadening, deriving a correction for those sources that shows major disagreement between virial and concordance cosmology luminosity values. The relatively large scatter between concordance cosmology and virial luminosity estimates can be reduced (by an order of magnitude) if a correction for orientation effects is included in the FWHM H{beta} value; outflow and sample definition yield relatively minor effects.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+AS/119/265
- Title:
- High probability quasar candidates
- Short Name:
- J/A+AS/119/265
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The Automated Quasar Detection (AQD) technique has been applied to six connected fields near the South Galactic Pole. A comparison with the Veron & Veron catalogue (1993) <VII/188> and the Cristiani et al. compilation (1995A&AS..112..347C) shows that AQD rediscovered ~75% of the known quasars with non-overlapping objective-prism spectra present in these fields (~40% if considering only the high degree candidates). A list of 1592 high grade candidates is given, including the results of cross-correlation with X-ray and radio catalogues.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/897/177
- Title:
- 142 high-redshift blazars at the cosmic dawn
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/897/177
- Date:
- 11 Mar 2022
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The uncharted territory of the high-redshift (z>~3) universe holds the key to understanding the evolution of quasars. In an attempt to identify the most extreme members of the quasar population, that is, blazars, we have carried out a multiwavelength study of a large sample of radio-loud quasars beyond z=3. Our sample consists of nine {gamma}-ray-detected blazars and 133 candidate blazars selected based on the flatness of their soft X-ray spectra (0.3-10keV photon index <~1.75), including 15 with Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) observations. The application of the likelihood profile stacking technique reveals that the high-redshift blazars are faint {gamma}-ray emitters with steep spectra. The high-redshift blazars host massive black holes (<logM_BH,M{odot}_>>9) and luminous accretion disks (<L_disk_>>10^46^erg/s). Their broadband spectral energy distributions are found to be dominated by high-energy radiation, indicating their jets are among the most luminous ones. Focusing on the sources exhibiting resolved X-ray jets (as observed with the Chandra satellite), we find the bulk Lorentz factor to be larger with respect to other z>3 blazars, indicating faster moving jets. We conclude that the presented list of high-redshift blazars may act as a reservoir for follow-up observations, such as with NuSTAR, to understand the evolution of relativistic jets at the dawn of the universe.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/568/A46
- Title:
- High redshift cosmic web with quasar systems
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/568/A46
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- To understand the formation, evolution, and present-day properties of the cosmic web we need to study it at low and high redshifts. We trace the cosmic web at redshifts 1.0<z<1.8 using the quasar (QSO) data from in the SDSS DR7 QSO catalogue. We apply a friend-of-friend (FoF) algorithm to the quasar and random catalogues to determine systems at a series of linking length, and analyse richness and sizes of these systems. At the linking lengths l<=30Mpc/h, the number of quasar systems is larger than the number of systems detected in random catalogues, and the systems themselves have smaller diameters than random systems. The diameters of quasar systems are comparable to the sizes of poor galaxy superclusters in the local Universe. The richest quasar systems have four members. The mean space density of quasar systems is close to the mean space density of local rich superclusters. At intermediate linking lengths (40<=l<=70Mpc/h), the richness and length of quasar systems are similar to those derived from random catalogues. Quasar system diameters are similar to the sizes of rich superclusters and supercluster chains in the local Universe. The percolating system, which penetrate the whole sample volume appears in a quasar sample at a smaller linking length than in random samples (85Mpc/h). At the linking length 70Mpc/h, the richest systems of quasars have diameters exceeding 500Mpc. Quasar luminosities in systems are not correlated with the system richness. Quasar system catalogues in our web pages and at the Strasbourg Astronomical Data Center (CDS) serve as a database for searching for superclusters of galaxies and for tracing the cosmic web at high redshifts.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/761/112
- Title:
- High-redshift MgII absorption QSOs with FIRE
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/761/112
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present initial results from the first systematic survey for Mg II quasar absorption lines at z>2.5. Using infrared spectra of 46 high-redshift quasars, we discovered 111 Mg II systems over a path covering 1.9<z<6.3. Five systems have z>5, with a maximum of z=5.33 --the most distant Mg II system now known. The comoving Mg II line density for weaker systems (W_r_<1.0{AA}) is statistically consistent with no evolution from z=0.4 to 5.5, while that for stronger systems increases three-fold until z~3 before declining again toward higher redshifts. The equivalent width distribution, which fits an exponential, reflects this evolution by flattening as z-->3 before steepening again. The rise and fall of the strong absorbers suggests a connection to the star formation rate density, as though they trace galactic outflows or other byproducts of star formation. The weaker systems' lack of evolution does not fit within this interpretation, but may be reproduced by extrapolating low redshift scaling relations between host galaxy luminosity and absorbing halo radius to earlier epochs. For the weak systems, luminosity-scaled models match the evolution better than similar models based on Mg II occupation of evolving cold dark matter halo masses, which greatly underpredict dN/dz at early times unless the absorption efficiency of small halos is significantly larger at early times. Taken together, these observations suggest that the general structure of Mg II-bearing halos was put into place early in the process of galaxy assembly. Except for a transient appearance of stronger systems near the peak epoch of cosmic star formation, the basic properties of Mg II absorbers have evolved fairly little even as the (presumably) associated galaxy population grew substantially in stellar mass and half-light radius.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/693/8
- Title:
- High-redshift QSOs in the COSMOS survey
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/693/8
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a new measurement of the space density of high-redshift (z~3.0-4.5), X-ray-selected quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) obtained by exploiting the deep and uniform multiwavelength coverage of the COSMOS survey. We have assembled a large (40 objects), homogeneous sample of z>3 QSOs with X-ray flux F0.5-2keV>10^-15^erg/cm^2^/s, and available spectroscopic (22) or photometric (18) redshifts. We discuss their optical (color-color diagrams) and X-ray properties, their number counts and space densities and compare our findings with previous works and model predictions.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/675/49
- Title:
- High-redshift QSOs in the SWIRE survey
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/675/49
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We use a simple optical/infrared (IR) photometric selection of high-redshift QSOs that identifies a Lyman break in the optical photometry and requires a red IR color to distinguish QSOs from common interlopers. The search yields 100 z~3 (U-dropout) QSO candidates with 19<r'<22 over 11.7deg^2^ in the ELAIS-N1 (EN1) and ELAIS-N2 (EN2) fields of the Spitzer Wide-area Infrared Extragalactic (SWIRE) Legacy Survey. The z~3 selection is reliable, with spectroscopic follow-up of 10 candidates confirming that they are all QSOs at 2.83<z<3.44. We find that our z~4 (g'-dropout) sample suffers from both unreliability and incompleteness but present seven previously unidentified QSOs at 3.50<z<3.89.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/428/226
- Title:
- High-redshift quasar candidates
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/428/226
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Quasars with a high redshift (z) are important to understand the evolution processes of galaxies in the early Universe. However, only a few of these distant objects are known to this date. The costs of building and operating a 10-m class telescope limit the number of facilities and, thus, the available observation time. Therefore, an efficient selection of candidates is mandatory. This paper presents a new approach to select quasar candidates with high redshift (z>4.8) based on photometric catalogues. We have chosen to use the z>4.8 limit for our approach because the dominant Lyman {alpha} emission line of a quasar can only be found in the Sloan i- and z-band filters. As part of the candidate selection approach, a photometric redshift estimator is presented, too. Three of the 120000 generated candidates have been spectroscopically analysed in follow-up observations and a new z=5.0 quasar was found. This result is consistent with the estimated detection ratio of about 50% and we expect 60000 high-redshift quasars to be part of our candidate sample. The created candidates are available for download at MNRAS or at http://www.astro.rub.de/polsterer/quasar-candidates.csv.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/121/31
- Title:
- High-redshift quasars in SDSS
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/121/31
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- This is the third paper in a series aimed at finding high-redshift quasars from five-color (u'g'r'i'z') imaging data taken along the celestial equator by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) during its commissioning phase. In this paper, we first present the observations of 14 bright, high-redshift quasars (3.66<=z<=4.77, i*<~20) discovered in the SDSS fall equatorial stripe, and the SDSS photometry of two previously known high-redshift quasars in the same region of the sky. Combined with the quasars presented in Paper I (1999AJ....118....1F) and by Schneider et al. (2001AJ....121.1232S), we define a color-selected flux-limited sample of 39 quasars at 3.6<z<5.0 and i*<~20, covering a total effective area of 182deg^2^. From this sample, we estimate the average spectral power-law slope in the rest-frame UV for quasars at z~4 to be -0.79 with a standard deviation of 0.34, and the average rest-frame equivalent width of the Ly{alpha}+N V emission line to be 69{AA} with a standard deviation of 18{AA}. Based on observations obtained with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, with the Apache Point Observatory 3.5m telescope.
