Towards a fundamental astrometric reference system behind the Magellanic Clouds: spectroscopic confirmation of new quasar candidates selected in the near-infrared

Valentin D. Ivanov; Maria-Rosa L. Cioni; Kenji Bekki; Richard de Grijs; Jim Emerson; Brad K. Gibson; Devika Kotachery; Jacco Th. van Loon; Andrés E. Piatti; Bi-Qing For

Towards a fundamental astrometric reference system behind the Magellanic Clouds: spectroscopic confirmation of new quasar candidates selected in the near-infrared

Valentin D. Ivanov^*, Maria-Rosa L. Cioni, Kenji Bekki, Richard de Grijs, Jim Emerson, Brad K. Gibson, Devika Kotachery, Jacco Th. van Loon, Andrés E. Piatti, Bi-Qing For

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Abstract

Quasi-stellar objects (quasars) located behind nearby galaxies provide an excellent absolute reference system for astrometric studies, but they are difficult to identify because of fore- and background contamination. We have embarked on a programme to expand the quasar reference system behind the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, the Magellanic Bridge and Magellanic Stream. Hundreds of quasar candidates were selected, based on their near-infrared colours and variability properties from the ESO VISTA Magellanic Clouds (VMC) Public Survey. A subset of 49 objects was followed up with optical spectroscopy with FORS2. We confirmed the quasar nature of 37 objects (34 new identifications) that span a redshift range from z ~ 0.5 to 4.1.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	32-34
Number of pages	3
Journal	The Messenger
Volume	163
Publication status	Published - Mar 2016
Externally published	Yes

Cite this

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title = "Towards a fundamental astrometric reference system behind the Magellanic Clouds: spectroscopic confirmation of new quasar candidates selected in the near-infrared",

abstract = "Quasi-stellar objects (quasars) located behind nearby galaxies provide an excellent absolute reference system for astrometric studies, but they are difficult to identify because of fore- and background contamination. We have embarked on a programme to expand the quasar reference system behind the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, the Magellanic Bridge and Magellanic Stream. Hundreds of quasar candidates were selected, based on their near-infrared colours and variability properties from the ESO VISTA Magellanic Clouds (VMC) Public Survey. A subset of 49 objects was followed up with optical spectroscopy with FORS2. We confirmed the quasar nature of 37 objects (34 new identifications) that span a redshift range from z ~ 0.5 to 4.1.",

author = "Ivanov, {Valentin D.} and Cioni, {Maria-Rosa L.} and Kenji Bekki and {de Grijs}, Richard and Jim Emerson and Gibson, {Brad K.} and Devika Kotachery and {van Loon}, {Jacco Th.} and Piatti, {Andr{\'e}s E.} and Bi-Qing For",

year = "2016",

month = mar,

language = "English",

volume = "163",

pages = "32--34",

journal = "The Messenger",

issn = "0722-6691",

publisher = "European Southern Observatory",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Towards a fundamental astrometric reference system behind the Magellanic Clouds

T2 - spectroscopic confirmation of new quasar candidates selected in the near-infrared

AU - Ivanov, Valentin D.

AU - Cioni, Maria-Rosa L.

AU - Bekki, Kenji

AU - de Grijs, Richard

AU - Emerson, Jim

AU - Gibson, Brad K.

AU - Kotachery, Devika

AU - van Loon, Jacco Th.

AU - Piatti, Andrés E.

AU - For, Bi-Qing

PY - 2016/3

Y1 - 2016/3

N2 - Quasi-stellar objects (quasars) located behind nearby galaxies provide an excellent absolute reference system for astrometric studies, but they are difficult to identify because of fore- and background contamination. We have embarked on a programme to expand the quasar reference system behind the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, the Magellanic Bridge and Magellanic Stream. Hundreds of quasar candidates were selected, based on their near-infrared colours and variability properties from the ESO VISTA Magellanic Clouds (VMC) Public Survey. A subset of 49 objects was followed up with optical spectroscopy with FORS2. We confirmed the quasar nature of 37 objects (34 new identifications) that span a redshift range from z ~ 0.5 to 4.1.

AB - Quasi-stellar objects (quasars) located behind nearby galaxies provide an excellent absolute reference system for astrometric studies, but they are difficult to identify because of fore- and background contamination. We have embarked on a programme to expand the quasar reference system behind the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, the Magellanic Bridge and Magellanic Stream. Hundreds of quasar candidates were selected, based on their near-infrared colours and variability properties from the ESO VISTA Magellanic Clouds (VMC) Public Survey. A subset of 49 objects was followed up with optical spectroscopy with FORS2. We confirmed the quasar nature of 37 objects (34 new identifications) that span a redshift range from z ~ 0.5 to 4.1.

UR - https://www.eso.org/sci/publications/messenger/toc.html?v=163&m=Mar&y=16

M3 - Article

SN - 0722-6691

VL - 163

SP - 32

EP - 34

JO - The Messenger

JF - The Messenger

ER -

Towards a fundamental astrometric reference system behind the Magellanic Clouds: spectroscopic confirmation of new quasar candidates selected in the near-infrared

Abstract

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