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Spectroscopic CCD surveys for quasars at large redshift. I - A deep PFUEI surveyA survey for faint quasars has been conducted using slitless spectroscopy with the PFUEI at the 200 inch (5 m) telescope. The survey covers a total of 0.91 sq deg in 113 fields at galactic latitudes above 30 deg. Calibrated spectra in the range 4500-7200 A were obtained for more than 9000 objects. Emission-line candidates were selected on the basis of two criteria: the equivalent width must exceed 50 A, and the signal-to-noise ratio of the detection of the line versus the sky background should be larger than 7. Among 45 candidates so selected, subsequent slit spectroscopy confirmed 27 emission-line objects. Among these, 17 are emission-line galaxies with redshifts in the range 0.04-0.31, and 10 are quasars with redshifts between 0.91 and 2.66. The well-defined selection criteria for these objects, together with the distribution of rest frame equivalent widths of the emission lines, allow derivation of the area of sky covered as a function of the continuum limiting magnitude. The observed number of quasars in the redshift range 0.7-2.7 agrees well with that predicted by the luminosity function models published by Schmidt and Green in 1983. It is concluded that quasars with an absolute magnitude of M(B) = -25 suffer a redshift cutoff near or below a redshift of 3.
Document ID
19860063245
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Schmidt, M.
(Palomar Observatory Pasadena, CA, United States)
Schneider, D. P.
(Palomar Observatory, Pasadena; Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton NJ, United States)
Gunn, J. E.
(Princeton University NJ, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
July 15, 1986
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal, Part 1
Volume: 306
ISSN: 0004-637X
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
86A47983
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF AST-81-11754
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF AST-83-14134
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS5-29225
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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