The Discovery of a Luminous z = 5.80 Quasar from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Fan X, White RL, Davis M, Becker RH, Strauss MA, Haiman Z, Schneider DP, Gregg MD, Gunn JE, Knapp GR, Lupton RH, Anderson, Jr. JE, Anderson SF, Annis J, Bahcall NA, Boroski WN, Brunner RJ, Chen B, Connolly AJ, Csabai I, Doi M, Fukugita M, Hennessy GS, Hindsley RB, Ichikawa T, Ivezić Ž, Loveday J, Meiksin A, McKay TA, Munn JA, Newberg HJ, Nichol R, Okamura S, Pier JR, Sekiguchi M, Shimasaku K, Stoughton C, Szalay AS, Szokoly GP, Thakar AR, Vogeley MS, York DG. 2000. The Discovery of a Luminous z = 5.80 Quasar from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The Astronomical Journal. 120(3), 1167–1174.


Journal Article | Published | English

Scopus indexed
Author
Fan, Xiaohui; White, Richard L.; Davis, Marc; Becker, Robert H.; Strauss, Michael A.; Haiman, ZoltánISTA ; Schneider, Donald P.; Gregg, Michael D.; Gunn, James E.; Knapp, G. R.; Lupton, Robert H.; Anderson, Jr., John E.
All
Abstract
We present observations of SDSSp J104433.04-012502.2, a luminous quasar at z = 5.80 discovered from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) multicolor imaging data. This object was selected as an i'-band dropout object, with i* = 21.8 ± 0.2 and z* = 19.2 ± 0.1. It has an absolute magnitude M1450 = -27.2 (H0 = 50 km s-1 Mpc-1, q0 = 0.5). The spectrum shows a strong and broad Lyα emission line, strong Lyα forest absorption lines with a mean continuum decrement DA = 0.91 and a Lyman limit system at z = 5.72. The spectrum also shows strong O I and Si IV emission lines similar to those of quasars at z ≲ 5, suggesting that these metals were produced at a redshift beyond 6. The lack of a Gunn-Peterson trough in the spectrum indicates that the universe is already highly ionized at z ∼ 5.8. Using a high-resolution spectrum in the Lyα forest region, we place a conservative upper limit on the optical depth because of the Gunn-Peterson effect of τ < 0.5 in regions of minimum absorption. The Lyα forest absorption in this object is much stronger than that in quasars at z ≲ 5. The object is unresolved in a deep image with excellent seeing, implying that it is unlensed. The black hole mass of this quasar is ∼3 × 109 M⊙ if we assume no lensing amplification and that it is radiating at the Eddington luminosity, implying that it resides in a very massive dark matter halo. The discovery of one quasar at M1450 < -27 in a survey area of 600 deg2 is consistent with an extrapolation of the observed luminosity function at lower redshifts. The abundance and evolution of such quasars can provide sensitive tests for models of quasar and galaxy formation.
Publishing Year
Date Published
2000-09-01
Journal Title
The Astronomical Journal
Publisher
American Astronomical Society
Volume
120
Issue
3
Page
1167-1174
ISSN
IST-REx-ID

Cite this

Fan X, White RL, Davis M, et al. The Discovery of a Luminous z = 5.80 Quasar from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The Astronomical Journal. 2000;120(3):1167-1174. doi:10.1086/301534
Fan, X., White, R. L., Davis, M., Becker, R. H., Strauss, M. A., Haiman, Z., … York, D. G. (2000). The Discovery of a Luminous z = 5.80 Quasar from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The Astronomical Journal. American Astronomical Society. https://doi.org/10.1086/301534
Fan, Xiaohui, Richard L. White, Marc Davis, Robert H. Becker, Michael A. Strauss, Zoltán Haiman, Donald P. Schneider, et al. “The Discovery of a Luminous z = 5.80 Quasar from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.” The Astronomical Journal. American Astronomical Society, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1086/301534.
X. Fan et al., “The Discovery of a Luminous z = 5.80 Quasar from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey,” The Astronomical Journal, vol. 120, no. 3. American Astronomical Society, pp. 1167–1174, 2000.
Fan X, White RL, Davis M, Becker RH, Strauss MA, Haiman Z, Schneider DP, Gregg MD, Gunn JE, Knapp GR, Lupton RH, Anderson, Jr. JE, Anderson SF, Annis J, Bahcall NA, Boroski WN, Brunner RJ, Chen B, Connolly AJ, Csabai I, Doi M, Fukugita M, Hennessy GS, Hindsley RB, Ichikawa T, Ivezić Ž, Loveday J, Meiksin A, McKay TA, Munn JA, Newberg HJ, Nichol R, Okamura S, Pier JR, Sekiguchi M, Shimasaku K, Stoughton C, Szalay AS, Szokoly GP, Thakar AR, Vogeley MS, York DG. 2000. The Discovery of a Luminous z = 5.80 Quasar from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The Astronomical Journal. 120(3), 1167–1174.
Fan, Xiaohui, et al. “The Discovery of a Luminous z = 5.80 Quasar from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.” The Astronomical Journal, vol. 120, no. 3, American Astronomical Society, 2000, pp. 1167–74, doi:10.1086/301534.
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