Optical and near-infrared spectroscopy of quasars at z > 6.5: public data release and composite spectrum

We present optical and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic observations for a sample of 45 quasars at 6.50 < z ≤ 7.64 with absolute magnitudes at 1450 Å in the range -28.82 ≤ M₁₄₅₀ ≤ -24.13 and their composite spectrum. The median redshift and M₁₄₅₀ of the quasars in the sample are zmedian=6.71 and M1450,median -26.1, respectively. The NIR spectra are taken with Echelle spectrographs, complemented with additional data from optical long slit instruments, and then reduced consistently using the open-source Python-based spectroscopic data reduction pipeline PypeIt. The median of the mean signal-to-noise ratios per 110 km s⁻¹ pixel in the J, H, and K band [median SNRλ] is median SNRJ =9.7, median SNRH =10.3, and median SNRK =11.7; demonstrating the good data quality. This work presents the largest medium-/moderate-resolution sample of quasars at $z>6.5$ from ground-based instruments. Despite the diversity in instrumental set-ups and spectral quality, the data set is uniformly processed and well-characterized, making it ideally suited for several scientific goals, including the study of the quasar proximity zones and damping wings, the Ly α forest, the intergalactic medium’s metal content, as well as other properties such as the distribution of SMBH masses and Eddington ratios. Our composite spectrum is compared to others at both high and low z from the literature, showing differences in the strengths of many emission lines, probably due to differences in luminosity among the samples, but a consistent continuum slope, which proves that the same spectral features are preserved in quasars at different redshift ranges.