Euclid Quick Data Release (Q1): Euclid spectroscopy of quasars. 1. Identification and redshift determination of 3500 bright quasars

TL;DR

This paper presents a large sample of approximately 3500 bright quasars identified from Euclid's spectroscopy data, including 2686 new identifications, and provides a composite spectrum covering NUV to NIR wavelengths, enhancing quasar spectral analysis and AGN selection techniques.

Contribution

The study introduces the first Euclid composite quasar spectrum and a large, homogeneous sample of bright quasars with reliable redshifts, including many new identifications, and analyzes their morphological and spectral properties.

Findings

Approximately 3500 quasars identified with reliable redshifts.

2686 quasars are new spectroscopic identifications.

The first Euclid composite spectrum of quasars from NUV to NIR.

Abstract

The slitless spectroscopy mode of the NISP onboard Euclid has enabled efficient spectroscopy of objects within a large FoV. We present a large and homogeneous sample of bright quasars identified from the Euclid Quick Data Release (Q1) by combining high-purity candidate selections from Gaia and WISE with the NISP spectra. Through visual inspection of the Euclid spectra of these quasar candidates, we identify approximately 3500 quasars with reliable redshifts at $0<z\lesssim 4.8$. Of these, 2686 are new spectroscopic identifications relative to existing public compilations. We generate the first Euclid composite spectrum of quasars covering rest-frame NUV to NIR wavelengths without telluric lines, which will be pivotal to NIR quasar spectral analysis. We obtain an empirical spectroscopic depth of $J_{\rm E}\lesssim 21.5$ and $H_{\rm E}\lesssim 21.3$ at the sensitivity of the Wide Field Survey, beyond which the number of securely identified quasars declines sharply. We analyse VIS morphologies using Sersic and CAS metrics, and a deep-learning PSF fraction to track nuclear dominance. At low redshift ($z<0.5$), obvious host structures are common and a single Sersic model fits about half of the sources; at intermediate redshift ($0.5<z<2$), the nuclear component dominates, with 90% of the Sersic fits saturating at the upper index limit. In this intermediate redshift regime, $f_{\rm PSF}$ is available, and we use it as a more reliable compactness measure than the single-Sersic and CAS parameters to quantify nuclear versus host emission. We also explore the novel Euclid NIR colour space and discuss the role of these quasars in refining AGN selection techniques for future Euclid data releases. The spectroscopic bright quasar catalogue of this work, and the composite quasar spectrum, will be available at https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/. (abridged)