Serendipitous discovery of a brightening quasar at redshift z = 3.68. Issue 1 (16th February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Selman, Fernando J.; Bian, Fuyan; Blanchard, Israel; Brillant, Stephane; Coccato, Lodovico; Cristiani, Stefano; Hibon, Pascale; Kakkad, Darshan; Mehner, Andrea; Moehler, Sabine; Parraguez, Diego; Reyes, Claudia; Rivinius, Thomas; Vera, Sergio; Vogt, Frédéric P. A.; Weilbacher, Peter M.; Yang, Bin
• Is Part Of: Astronomische Nachrichten. Volume 341:Issue 1(2020)
• Page Start: 26
• Page End: 31
• Publication Date: 2020-02-16
• Subjects: quasars: Individual: (J030946.62‐562411.2) -- techniques: Spectroscopy; Astronomy -- Periodicals; 520.5
• DOI: 10.1002/asna.202013637
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0004-6337

Abstract

Abstract: We report the serendipitous discovery of a redshift 3.68 quasar while validating the star WD 0308‐565 as a spectrophotometric standard star for the Multi‐Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) calibration plan. Based on the MUSE observations, the luminosity of the quasar at 1350A (L1350) is 4.71 × 10 45 erg s −1 . The black hole mass is 2.5 × 10 9 M ʘ, and bolometric luminosity is 1.57 × 10 47 erg s −1 . Present in the field of view of a star in the calibration plan of the instrument makes this a very valuable quasar as it will receive many repeated visits in the coming years making it an ideal candidate for reverberation mapping studies.