Related papers: Ultra-luminous quasars at redshift $z>4.5$ from Sk…
We present the first results of a survey for high redshift, z $\ge$ 6, quasars using izY multi-colour photometric observations from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). Here we report the discovery and spectroscopic confirmation of the $\rm…
We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of 15 high-redshift quasars (z > 3.6) discovered from ~140 deg^2 of five-color (u'g'r'i'z') imaging data taken by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) during its commissioning phase. The…
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has obtained images in five broad-band colors for several hundred square degrees. We present color-color diagrams for stellar objects, and demonstrate that quasars are easily distinguished from stars by their…
Distant luminous quasars provide important information on the growth of the first supermassive black holes, their host galaxies and the epoch of reionization. The identification of quasars is usually performed through detection of their…
We report the discovery of five quasars with redshifts of 4.67 - 5.27 and z'-band magnitudes of 19.5-20.7 M_B ~ -27. All were originally selected as distant quasar candidates in optical/near-infrared photometry from the Sloan Digital Sky…
We present imaging and spectroscopic observations for six quasars at z>5.9 discovered by the Canada-France High-z Quasar Survey (CFHQS). The CFHQS contains sub-surveys with a range of flux and area combinations to sample a wide range of…
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-metre class…
Quasars are the most luminous sources in the Universe. They are currently observed out to redshift z ~ 7 when the Universe was less than one tenth of its present age. Since their discovery 50 years ago astronomers have dreamed of using them…
We present a search for bright $z\sim5$ quasars using imaging data from SkyMapper Southern Survey, Pan-STARRS1 and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). We select two sets of candidates using WISE with optical bands from SkyMapper…
We report discovery of 41 new high-z quasars and luminous galaxies, which were spectroscopically identified at 5.7 < z < 6.9. This is the fourth in a series of papers from the Subaru High-z Exploration of Low-Luminosity Quasars (SHELLQs)…
Studying quasars at the highest redshifts can constrain models of galaxy and black hole formation, and it also probes the intergalactic medium in the early universe. Optical surveys have to date discovered more than 60 quasars up to z~6.4,…
Identifications of quasars at intermediate redshifts (2.2<z<3.5) are inefficient in most previous quasar surveys as their optical colors are similar to those of stars. The near-IR K-band excess technique has been suggested to overcome this…
We present the spectra, positions, and finding charts for 31 bright (R<19.3) colour-selected quasars covering the redshift range z=3.85-4.78, with 4 having redshifts z>4.5. The majority are in the southern sky (dec<-25 deg). The quasar…
We present the results from exploratory Chandra observations of nine high-z (z=4.1-4.5) optically selected quasars. These quasars, taken from the DPOSS, are among the optically most luminous z>4 quasars known (M_B=-28.4 to -30.2). All have…
We report on Chandra observations of a sample of 11 optically luminous (Mb<-28.5) quasars at z=3.96-4.55 selected from the Palomar Digital Sky Survey and the Automatic Plate Measuring Facility Survey. These are among the most luminous z>4…
The discovery of luminous quasars at redshifts up to 7.5 demonstrates the existence of several billion M_sun supermassive black holes (SMBHs) less than a billion years after the Big Bang. They are accompanied by intense star formation in…
We assemble a catalogue of 488 spectroscopically confirmed very high ($z\geq5.00$) redshift quasars and report their near- ($ZYJHK_{s}/K$) and mid- (WISE W1234) infrared properties. 97\% of the VH$z$Q sample is detected in one or more NIR…
We demonstrate that the UV brightest quasars at z=1-2 live in overdense environments. This is based on an analysis of deep Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 G141 grism spectroscopy of the galaxies along the lines-of-sight to UV luminous quasars…
The uncharted territory of the high-redshift ($z\gtrsim3$) Universe holds the key to understand the evolution of quasars. In an attempt to identify the most extreme members of the quasar population, i.e., blazars, we have carried out a…
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…