New quasar survey with WIRO: Color-selection of quasar candidates behind M33
Abstract
We report new quasar candidates in the extended gaseous region of the Triangulum (M33) Galaxy as observed with WIRO (The Wyoming Infrared Observatory) in the ugri bands during the Summer of 2016. Our survey produced a sample of 14042 point sources to a limiting depth of g ≤ 21.7 in a region of ~16 square degrees, 34 of which are UVX-selected, known quasars with redshifts up to z < 2.2. Color-color plots were created using extinction-corrected magnitudes of ugri as well as NUV and W1 as taken from GALEX (Galaxy Evolution Explorer) and WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) respectively. Using a series of color cuts in NUV, u, g, r, i, and W1 bands, we recover high-quality quasar candidates. Based on optical colors alone we project ~30 new candidates per square degree. Spectroscopic follow-up of these candidates could yield new, bright quasars behind M33. This work is supported by the National Science Foundation under REU grant AST 1560461.
- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #229
- Pub Date:
- January 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017AAS...22925001H