THE FIRST HIGH-REDSHIFT QUASAR FROM Pan-STARRS

We present the discovery of the first high-redshift (z > 5.7) quasar from the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System 1 (Pan-STARRS1 or PS1). This quasar was initially detected as an i(P1) dropout in PS1, confirmed photometrically with the SAO Wide-field InfraRed Camera at Arizona's Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) and the Gamma-Ray Burst Optical/Near-Infrared Detector at the MPG 2.2 m telescope in La Silla. The quasar was verified spectroscopically with the MMT Spectrograph, Red Channel and the Cassegrain Twin Spectrograph at the Calar Alto 3.5 m telescope. Its near-infrared spectrum was taken at the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory (LBT) with the LBT Near-Infrared Spectroscopic Utility with Camera and Integral Field Unit for Extragalactic Research. It has a redshift of 5.73, an AB z(P1) magnitude of 19.4, a luminosity of 3.8 x 10(47) erg s(-1), and a black hole mass of 6.9 x 10(9) M-circle dot. It is a broad absorption line quasar with a prominent Ly beta peak and a very blue continuum spectrum. This quasar is the first result from the PS1 high-redshift quasar search that is projected to discover more than 100 i(P1) dropout quasars and could potentially find more than 10 z(P1) dropout (z > 6.8) quasars.