The FIRST bright QSO survey

The FIRST radio survey provides a new resource for constructing a large quasar sample. With source positions accurate to better than 1{double_prime} and a point source sensitivity limit of 1 mJy, it reaches 50 times deeper than previous radio catalogs. We report here on the results of the pilot phase for a FIRST Bright Quasar Survey (FBQS). Based on matching the radio catalog from the initial 300 deg{sup 2} of FIRST coverage with the optical catalog from the Automated Plate Machine (APM) digitization of Palomar Sky Survey plates, we have defined a sample of 219 quasar candidates brighter than {ital E} = 17.50. We have obtained optical spectroscopy for 151 of these and classified 25 others from the literature, yielding 69 quasars or Seyfert 1 galaxies, of which 51 are new identifications. The brightest new quasar has an {ital E} magnitude of 14.6 and {ital z} = 0.91; four others are brighter than {ital E} = 16. The redshifts range from {ital z} = 0.12 to 3.42. Half of the detected objects are radio quiet with {ital L}{sub 21-cm}{lt}10{sup 32.5} ergs/s. We use the results of this pilot survey to establish criteria for the FBQS that will produce a quasarmore » search program which will be 70{percent} efficient and 95{percent} complete to a 21-cm flux density limit of 1.0 mJy. {copyright} {ital 1996 American Astronomical Society.}« less