Gemini Near Infrared Spectrograph Distant Quasar Survey: Initial Results

G. FERRERO; MATTHEWS, BRANDON

Seattle

Congreso; American Astronomical Society meeting #235; 2020

American Astronomical Society

We present the initial results from the GeminiNear Infrared Spectrograph Distant Quasar Survey(GNIRS-DQS). This survey, which began in 2017,continues to obtain high quality near-infrared spectroscopy of hundreds of Sloan Digital Sky Survey(SDSS) quasars between redshifts of 1.5 and 3.5 inthe ∼1.0-2.5 μm band. These GNIRS-DQS and SDSSspectra cover principal quasar diagnostic features,namely C IV, Mg II, Hβ, and [O III] emission lines. Tothis end, we present basic spectral properties of thefirst 125 GNIRS-DQS quasars. In particular, we focus on systemic redshifts determined primarily fromthe rest-frame optical emission lines and the respective velocity offsets of prominent rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) emission lines. As has been seen in previousstudies, we observe significant systematic blueshifting for UV-based redshift estimates in addition tonotable scatter in the velocity offsets. One of ourprimary goals is to arrive at a prescription to correct these offsets and minimize the uncertainties onUV-based redshift estimates. This work is supportedby National Science Foundation grants AST-1815281and AST-1815645.