The SCUBA Bright Quasar Survey (SBQS) - II. Unveiling the quasar epoch at submillimetre wavelengths

Priddey, Robert S., Isaak, Kate Gudrun, McMahon, Richard G. and Omont, Alain 2003. The SCUBA Bright Quasar Survey (SBQS) - II. Unveiling the quasar epoch at submillimetre wavelengths. Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 339 , pp. 1183-1188. 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2003.06279.x

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

We present results of the first systematic search for submillimetre (submm) continuum emission from z∼ 2 , radio-quiet, optically-luminous (MB < −27.5) quasars, using the SCUBA array camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). We have observed a homogeneous sample of 57 quasars in the redshift range 1.5 < z < 3.0 – the epoch during which the comoving density of luminous active galactic nuclei (AGN) peaks – to make a systematic comparison with an equivalent sample at high redshift ( z > 4 ; Paper I). The target sensitivity of the survey, 3σ= 10 mJy at 850 μm, was chosen to enable efficient identification of bright submm sources, suitable for detailed follow-up. Nine targets are detected with 3σ significance or greater, with fluxes in the range 7–17 mJy. Although the detection rate above 10 mJy is lower than that of the z > 4 survey, the weighted mean flux of the undetected sources, 1.9 ± 0.4 mJy , is similar to that at z > 4 (2.0 ± 0.6 mJy) . The statistical significance of trends is analysed, and it is found that: (i) within the limited optical luminosity range studied, there is no strong evidence for a correlation between submm and optical luminosity; (ii) there is a suggestion of a variation of submm detectability with redshift, but that this is consistent with the K-correction of a characteristic far-infrared spectrum.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Physics and Astronomy
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Dust, extinction ; Quasars: general ; Galaxies: starburst ; Cosmology: observations ; Submillimetre
ISSN:	0035-8711
Last Modified:	19 Mar 2016 22:03
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/1632

Citation Data

Cited 79 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item