The most extreme high-z radio quasars in the eRASS:1 X-ray survey

arXiv:2608.04078 · astro-ph.GA, astro-ph.HE · Submitted 2026-08-04 · Read on arXiv

L. Ighina, L. Palmieri, L. N. Martínez-Ramírez, A. Caccianiga, T. Connor, A. Moretti, B. Arsioli, Y. Beletsky, E. Marini, A. Rossi

astro-ph.GA, astro-ph.HE

Submitted: 2026-08-04

Comments: Accepted for pubblication on MNRAS 2026 August 04, Submitted 2026 May 25

Code: https://github.com/ranieremenezes/easyspec

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The gist: We present the selection and identification of high-z radio quasars from a combination of X-ray (eROSITA All-Sky Survey), optical/NIR (DECam Local Volume Exploration), and radio (Rapid ASKAP

Terminology

Abstract

We present the selection and identification of high-z radio quasars from a combination of X-ray (eROSITA All-Sky Survey), optical/NIR (DECam Local Volume Exploration), and radio (Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey) surveys. After building a sample of 68 new high-z quasar candidates, we performed follow-up spectroscopic observations on 46 sources, confirming 39 to have redshifts z>3.5. For the subset of radio quasars at z>4, the 14 new sources identified here represent an increase of about 65% in the known population of objects above the same flux limits in the same area. Using X-ray-to-optical relative intensity, we identified blazars in our sample, which we then used to compare the total number of z>4, X-ray selected blazars to the predictions of a fractional IC/CMB model previously proposed in the literature. Overall we find a relatively good agreement, even considering the potential biases in the redshift distribution from the incompleteness of the spectroscopic follow-up and the blazar classification criteria. The sources presented in this work represent a sample well suited for investigating the evolution of the most extreme systems in the early Universe, including their relativistic jets and accretion properties

Sources

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