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Start Over Subject infrared photometry Subject redshifted Subject quasars
1. AGES: the AGN and Galaxy Evolution Survey
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/200/8
Title:
AGES: the AGN and Galaxy Evolution Survey
Short Name:
J/ApJS/200/8
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
The AGN and Galaxy Evolution Survey (AGES) is a redshift survey covering, in its standard fields, 7.7deg^2^ of the Bootes field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey. The final sample consists of 23745 redshifts. There are well-defined galaxy samples in 10 bands (the B_W_, R, I, J, K, IRAC 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0um, and MIPS 24um bands) to a limiting magnitude of I<20mag for spectroscopy. For these galaxies, we obtained 18163 redshifts from a sample of 35200 galaxies, where random sparse sampling was used to define statistically complete sub-samples in all 10 photometric bands. The median galaxy redshift is 0.31, and 90% of the redshifts are in the range 0.085<z<0.66. Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) were selected as radio, X-ray, IRAC mid-IR, and MIPS 24um sources to fainter limiting magnitudes (I<22.5mag for point sources). Redshifts were obtained for 4764 quasars and galaxies with AGN signatures, with 2926, 1718, 605, 119, and 13 above redshifts of 0.5, 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. We detail all the AGES selection procedures and present the complete spectroscopic redshift catalogs and spectral energy distribution decompositions. Photometric redshift estimates are provided for all sources in the AGES samples.
2. A new photo-z method for quasars in Stripe 82
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/154/269
Title:
A new photo-z method for quasars in Stripe 82
Short Name:
J/AJ/154/269
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We present a new algorithm to estimate quasar photometric redshifts (photo-zs), by considering the asymmetries in the relative flux distributions of quasars. The relative flux models are built with multivariate Skew-t distributions in the multidimensional space of relative fluxes as a function of redshift and magnitude. For 151392 quasars in the SDSS, we achieve a photo-z accuracy, defined as the fraction of quasars with the difference between the photo-z z_p_ and the spectroscopic redshift z_s_, |{Delta}_z_|=|z_s_-z_p_|/(1+z_s_) within 0.1, of 74%. Combining the WISE W1 and W2 infrared data with the SDSS data, the photo-z accuracy is enhanced to 87%. Using the Pan-STARRS1 or DECaLS photometry with WISE W1 and W2 data, the photo-z accuracies are 79% and 72%, respectively. The prior probabilities as a function of magnitude for quasars, stars, and galaxies are calculated, respectively, based on (1) the quasar luminosity function, (2) the Milky Way synthetic simulation with the Besancon model, and (3) the Bayesian Galaxy Photometric Redshift estimation. The relative fluxes of stars are obtained with the Padova isochrones, and the relative fluxes of galaxies are modeled through galaxy templates. We test our classification method to select quasars using the DECaLS g, r, z, and WISE W1 and W2 photometry. The quasar selection completeness is higher than 70% for a wide redshift range 0.5<z<4.5, and a wide magnitude range 18<r<21.5 mag. Our photo-z regression and classification method has the potential to extend to future surveys. The photo-z code will be publicly available.
3. Australian Dark Energy Survey (OzDES) quasar catalog
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/153/107
Title:
Australian Dark Energy Survey (OzDES) quasar catalog
Short Name:
J/AJ/153/107
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We present a study of quasar selection using the supernova fields of the Dark Energy Survey (DES). We used a quasar catalog from an overlapping portion of the SDSS Stripe 82 region to quantify the completeness and efficiency of selection methods involving color, probabilistic modeling, variability, and combinations of color/probabilistic modeling with variability. In all cases, we considered only objects that appear as point sources in the DES images. We examine color selection methods based on the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) (Wright et al. 2010AJ....140.1868W) mid-IR W1-W2 color, a mixture of WISE and DES colors (g-i and i-W1), and a mixture of Vista Hemisphere Survey (McMahon et al. 2013Msngr.154...35M) and DES colors (g-i and i-K). For probabilistic quasar selection, we used XDQSO, an algorithm that employs an empirical multi-wavelength flux model of quasars to assign quasar probabilities. Our variability selection uses the multi-band {chi}^2^-probability that sources are constant in the DES Year 1 griz-band light curves. The completeness and efficiency are calculated relative to an underlying sample of point sources that are detected in the required selection bands and pass our data quality and photometric error cuts. We conduct our analyses at two magnitude limits, i<19.8 mag and i<22 mag. For the subset of sources with W1 and W2 detections, the W1-W2 color or XDQSOz method combined with variability gives the highest completenesses of >85% for both i-band magnitude limits and efficiencies of >80% to the bright limit and >60% to the faint limit; however, the giW1 and giW1+variability methods give the highest quasar surface densities. The XDQSOz method and combinations of W1W2/giW1/XDQSOz with variability are among the better selection methods when both high completeness and high efficiency are desired. We also present the OzDES Quasar Catalog of 1263 spectroscopically confirmed quasars from three years of OzDES observation in the 30 deg^2^ of the DES supernova fields. The catalog includes quasars with redshifts up to z~4 and brighter than i=22 mag, although the catalog is not complete up to this magnitude limit.
4. Blazar candidates behind the Magellanic Clouds
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/867/131
Title:
Blazar candidates behind the Magellanic Clouds
Short Name:
J/ApJ/867/131
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We report the identification of blazar candidates behind the Magellanic Clouds. The objects were selected from the Magellanic Quasars Survey (MQS), which targeted the entire Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and 70% of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Among the 758 MQS quasars and 898 of the unidentified (featureless spectra) objects, we identified a sample of 44 blazar candidates, including 27 flat-spectrum radio quasars and 17 BL Lacertae objects, respectively. All the blazar candidates from our sample were identified with respect to their radio, optical, and midinfrared properties. The newly selected blazar candidates possess the long-term, multicolor photometric data from the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment, multicolor midinfrared observations, and archival radio data for one frequency at least. In addition, for nine of them, the radio polarization data are available. With such data, these objects can be used to study the physics behind the blazar variability detected in the optical and midinfrared bands, as a tool to investigate magnetic field geometry of the LMC and SMC, and as an exemplary sample of point-like sources most likely detectable in the {gamma}-ray range with the newly emerging Cherenkov Telescope Array.
5. Blazars with {gamma}-ray counterparts. I.
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/206/12
Title:
Blazars with {gamma}-ray counterparts. I.
Short Name:
J/ApJS/206/12
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We present a new method for identifying blazar candidates by examining the locus, i.e., the region occupied by the Fermi {gamma}-ray blazars in the three-dimensional color space defined by the WISE infrared colors. This method is a refinement of our previous approach that made use of the two-dimensional projection of the distribution of WISE {gamma}-ray-emitting blazars (the Strip) in the three WISE color-color planes. In this paper, we define the three-dimensional locus by means of a principal component analysis of the color distribution of a large sample of blazars composed of all the ROMA-BZCAT sources with counterparts in the WISE All-Sky Catalog associated with {gamma}-ray sources in the second Fermi-LAT catalog (2FGL; the WISE Fermi blazars sample, WFB). Our new procedure yields a total completeness of c_tot_~81% and a total efficiency of e_tot_~97%. We also obtain local estimates of the efficiency and completeness as functions of the WISE colors and galactic coordinates of the candidate blazars. The catalog of all WISE candidate blazars associated with the WFB sample is also presented, complemented by archival multi-frequency information for the alternative associations. Finally, we apply the new association procedure to all {gamma}-ray blazars in the 2FGL and provide a catalog containing all the {gamma}-ray candidate blazars selected according to our procedure.
6. Blazars with {gamma}-ray counterparts. II.
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/206/13
Title:
Blazars with {gamma}-ray counterparts. II.
Short Name:
J/ApJS/206/13
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
A significant fraction (~30%) of the high-energy gamma-ray sources listed in the second Fermi Large Area Telescope catalog (2FGL) are still of unknown origin, being not yet associated with counterparts at low energies. We recently developed a new association method to identify if there is a {gamma}-ray blazar candidate within the positional uncertainty region of a generic 2FGL source. This method is entirely based on the discovery that blazars have distinct infrared colors with respect to other extragalactic sources found, thanks to the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) all-sky observations. Several improvements have also been performed to increase the efficiency of our method in recognizing {gamma}-ray blazar candidates. In this paper we applied our method to two different samples, the first constituted by unidentified {gamma}-ray sources (UGSs), and the second by active galaxies of uncertain type, both listed in the 2FGL. We present a catalog of IR counterparts for ~20% of the UGSs investigated. Then, we also compare our results for the associated sources with those present in the literature. In addition, we illustrate the extensive archival research carried out to identify the radio, infrared, optical, and X-ray counterparts of the WISE-selected, {gamma}-ray blazar candidates. Finally, we discuss the future developments of our method based on ground-based follow-up observations.
7. Bright QSOs in Southern Hemisphere (QUBRICS)
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/887/268
Title:
Bright QSOs in Southern Hemisphere (QUBRICS)
Short Name:
J/ApJ/887/268
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
The study of absorptions along the lines of sight to bright high-z QSOs is an invaluable cosmological tool that provides a wealth of information on the inter-/circum-galactic medium, dark matter, primordial elements, reionization, fundamental constants, and general relativity. Unfortunately, the number of bright (i<~18) QSOs at z>~2 in the southern hemisphere is much lower than that in the north, due to the lack of wide multiwavelength surveys at decl. {delta}<0{deg}, hampering the effectiveness of observations from southern observatories. In this work we present a new method based on Canonical Correlation Analysis to identify such objects, taking advantage of a number of available databases: Skymapper, Gaia DR2, WISE, and 2MASS. Our QSO candidate sample lists 1476 sources with i<18 over 12400deg^2^ in the southern hemisphere. With a preliminary campaign we observed spectroscopically 69 of them, confirming 54 new bright QSOs at z>2.5, corresponding to a success rate of our method of ~80%. Furthermore, we estimate a completeness of ~90% of our sample at completion of our observation campaign. The new QSOs confirmed by this first and the forthcoming campaigns (QUBRICS survey) will be the targets of subsequent studies using higher resolution spectrographs, like ESPRESSO, UVES, and (in the long term) ELT/HIRES.
8. Continuum-band lags in SDSS QSOs from PS1 obs.
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/836/186
Title:
Continuum-band lags in SDSS QSOs from PS1 obs.
Short Name:
J/ApJ/836/186
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We study the time lags between the continuum emission of quasars at different wavelengths, based on more than four years of multi-band (g, r, i, z) light curves in the Pan-STARRS Medium Deep Fields. As photons from different bands emerge from different radial ranges in the accretion disk, the lags constrain the sizes of the accretion disks. We select 240 quasars with redshifts of z~1 or z~0.3 that are relatively emission-line free. The light curves are sampled from day to month timescales, which makes it possible to detect lags on the scale of the light crossing time of the accretion disks. With the code JAVELIN, we detect typical lags of several days in the rest frame between the g band and the riz bands. The detected lags are ~2-3 times larger than the light crossing time estimated from the standard thin disk model, consistent with the recently measured lag in NGC 5548 and microlensing measurements of quasars. The lags in our sample are found to increase with increasing luminosity. Furthermore, the increase in lags going from g-r to g-i and then to g-z is slower than predicted in the thin disk model, particularly for high-luminosity quasars. The radial temperature profile in the disk must be different from what is assumed. We also find evidence that the lags decrease with increasing line ratios between ultraviolet Fe II lines and Mg II, which may point to changes in the accretion disk structure at higher metallicity.
9. Deep CFHT imaging of VVDS-F22 field. II. Quasars
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/155/110
Title:
Deep CFHT imaging of VVDS-F22 field. II. Quasars
Short Name:
J/AJ/155/110
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We report the results of a faint quasar survey in a one-square-degree field. The aim is to test the Y-K/g-z and J-K/i-Y color selection criteria for quasars at faint magnitudes to obtain a complete sample of quasars based on deep optical and near-infrared color-color selection and to measure the faint end of the quasar luminosity function (QLF) over a wide redshift range. We carried out a quasar survey based on the Y-K/g-z and J-K/i-Y quasar selection criteria, using the deep Y-band data obtained from our CFHT/WIRCam Y-band images in a two-degree field within the F22 field of the VIMOS VLT deep survey, optical co-added data from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe 82 and deep near-infrared data from the UKIDSS Deep Extragalactic Survey in the same field. We discovered 25 new quasars at 0.5<z<4.5 and i<22.5 mag within one-square-degree field. The survey significantly increases the number of faint quasars in this field, especially at z~2-3. It confirms that our color selections are highly complete in a wide redshift range (z<4.5), especially over the quasar number density peak at z~2-3, even for faint quasars. Combining all previous known quasars and new discoveries, we construct a sample with 109 quasars and measure the binned QLF and parametric QLF. Although the sample is small, our results agree with a pure luminosity evolution at lower redshift and luminosity evolution and density evolution model at redshift z>2.5.
10. ELQS in SDSS. III. The full ELQS quasar catalog
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/871/258
Title:
ELQS in SDSS. III. The full ELQS quasar catalog
Short Name:
J/ApJ/871/258
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We have designed the Extremely Luminous Quasar Survey (ELQS) to provide a highly complete census of unobscured UV-bright quasars during the cosmic noon, z=2.8-5.0. Here we report the discovery of 70 new quasars in the ELQS South Galactic Cap (ELQS-S) quasar sample, doubling the number of known extremely luminous quasars in 4237.3deg^2^ of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey footprint. These observations conclude the ELQS and we present the properties of the full ELQS quasar catalog, containing 407 quasars over 11838.5deg^2^. Our novel ELQS quasar selection strategy resulted in unprecedented completeness at the bright end and allowed us to discover 109 new quasars in total. This marks an increase of ~36% (109/298) in the known population at these redshifts and magnitudes, while we further are able to retain a selection efficiency of ~80%. On the basis of 166 quasars from the full ELQS quasar catalog, which adhere to the uniform criteria of the Two Micron All Sky Survey point source catalog, we measure the bright-end quasar luminosity function (QLF) and extend it one magnitude brighter than previous studies. Assuming a single power law with exponential density evolution for the functional form of the QLF, we retrieve the best-fit parameters from a maximum likelihood analysis. We find a steep bright-end slope of {beta}~-4.1, and we can constrain the bright-end slope to {beta}<=-3.4 with 99% confidence. The density is well modeled by the exponential redshift evolution, resulting in a moderate decrease with redshift ({gamma}~-0.4).

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