Related papers: Close companions to two high-redshift quasars

We report the discovery of a quasar close to SDSS J0927+2943 (z = 0.713), which is a massive binary / recoiling black hole candidate. The companion quasar is at a projected distance of 125 h_70^{-1} kpc and exhibits a radial velocity…

We report the discovery of a bright (g = 14.5 mag (AB), K = 11.9 mag (Vega)) quasar at redshift z = 0.83 -- the optically brightest (unbeamed) quasar at z > 0.4. SMSS J114447.77-430859.3, at a Galactic latitude of b = +18.1deg, was…

Distant quasars are unique tracers to study the formation of the earliest supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and the history of cosmic reionization. Despite extensive efforts, only two quasars have been found at $z\ge7.5$, due to a…

We report the discovery of a z=2.65 low-ionization iron broad absorption line quasar, FIRST J100424.9+122922, which is gravitationally-lensed by a galaxy at z~0.95. The object was discovered as part of a program to find very red quasars by…

We quantify galaxy overdensities around three high-redshift quasars with known [CII] 158um companions: PJ231-20 (z=6.59), PJ308-21 (z=6.24) and J0305-3150 (z=6.61). Recent SCUBA2 imaging revealed the presence of 17 submillimeter galaxies…

We present optical spectroscopy of the close companions of 22 low redshift (z<0.5) quasars (QSO) selected from a larger sample of QSO in the SDSS Stripe82 region for which both the host galaxy and the large scale environments have been…

We present Plateau de Bure Interferometer observations of far infra-red emission lines in BRI 0952-0115, a lensed quasar at z=4.4 powered by a super-massive black hole (M_BH=2x10^9 M_sun). In this source, the resolved map of the [CII]…

We present the discovery of three new quasars at z>6 in 1300 deg^2 of SDSS imaging data, J114816.64+525150.3 (z=6.43), J104845.05+463718.3 (z=6.23) and J163033.90+401209.6 (z=6.05). The first two objects have weak Ly alpha emission lines;…

We report the first detection of molecular gas beyond redshift 7. The molecular gas is associated with the host galaxy of the quasar candidate PSO J145.5964+19.3565 and its companion PSO J145.5964+19.3565N separated by 20.7 kpc. The…

We present optical and near-infrared imaging of the field of the z=7.0842 quasar ULAS J112001.48+064124.3 taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. We use these data to search for galaxies that may be physically associated with the quasar,…

High redshift quasars can be used to trace the early growth of massive galaxies and may be triggered by galaxy-galaxy interactions. We present MUSE science verification data on one such interacting system consisting of the well-studied…

Quasars are effective tracers of the large-scale distribution of galaxies at high redshift thanks to their high luminosity and dedicated surveys. Previous studies have shown that quasars exhibit a bias similar to that of rich groups,…

We present spectroscopic observations with Keck/LRIS of LBQS 0015+0239, a pair of quasars at z = 2.45 with a separation of $\Delta\theta = 2.2$ arcsec (projected linear distance of 17.8 $h_{70}^{-1}$ kpc, for $\Omega_m = 0.3$, $\Lambda =…

We present the first results from a new survey for high-redshift $(z\gtrsim5)$ gravitationally lensed quasars and close quasar pairs. We carry out candidate selection based on the colors and shapes of objects in public imaging surveys, then…

We present the initial results from our search for high redshift, z > 6, quasars using near infrared data from the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) Large Area Survey (LAS). Our analysis of 106 deg^2 of sky from Data Release 1 (DR1)…

We combine near-infrared imaging in two bands from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) with archival observations of molecular gas to study SDSS J160705.16+533558.6 (J1607), an extremely luminous broad-line quasar at $z = 3.65$ that is also…

The observed large-scale scatter in Lyman $\alpha$ opacity of the intergalactic medium at $z<6$ implies large fluctuations in the neutral hydrogen fraction that are unexpected long after reionization has ended. A number of models have…

We report the discovery of a quasar pair at z=5 separated by 21 arcsec. Both objects were identified as quasar candidates using simple color selection techniques applied to photometric catalogs from the CFHT Legacy Survey (CFHTLS). Spectra…

We discuss observational properties of strong emission-line galaxies at low redshift found by our deep imaging survey for high-redshift Ly alpha emitters. In our surveys, we used the narrowband filter, NB816 (lambda_center=8150A with FWHM =…

Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies can be used to study cosmological reionization, because a neutral intergalactic medium scatters Lyman-alpha photons into diffuse halos whose surface brightness falls below typical survey detection limits. Here…