Session 103 - Quasars & Blazars.
Display session, Saturday, January 10
Exhibit Hall,

## [103.11] Survey For Very High-Redshift Quasars

S. Lemley, G. MacAlpine (U. Michigan)

I will present the results from the deep, three color survey for very high redshift quasars. The survey involved direct imaging through Gunn gri filters using a 2048 \times 2048 STIS ccd chip and Cerro Tololo's Curtis Scmidt Telescope. Quasar candidates in the range 4.0 < z < 5.4 were selected based on the detection of the Lyman \alpha line and the strong drop in the spectrum blueward of this. Because of this response, quasars are clearly located away from the stellar locus on g - r vs. r - i diagrams. Quasar candidates in this redshift range have large values of g - r and small values of r - i. To confirm the candidates as quasars, the multi-fiber spectroscope Hydra, located on the WIYN telescope, was used. To date, spectral confirmation has been completed for ten degrees out of the approximately fifteen square degress of survey area. Several quasars were discovered, and I will present their spectra and information on the viability of this technique.