Discovery of az= 6.1 Radio‐Loud Quasar in the NOAO Deep Wide Field Survey

From examination of only 4 deg² of sky in the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey (NDWFS) region, we have identified the first radio-loud quasar at a redshift z>6. The object, FIRST J1427385+331241, was discovered by matching the FLAMEX IR survey to FIRST survey radio sources with NDWFS counterparts. One candidate z>6 quasar was found, and spectroscopy with the Keck II telescope confirmed its identification, yielding a redshift z=6. 12. The object is a Broad Absorption Line (BAL) quasar with an optical luminosity of MB ~ -26. 9 and a radio-to-optical flux ratio ~ 60. Two MgII absorptions systems are present at redshifts of z=2. 18 and z=2. 20. We briefly discuss the implications of this discovery for the high-redshift quasar population.