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D. A. Schwartz (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA)
A \emph{Chandra} Director's Discretionary Program was carried out on January 29, 2002, to take a snapshot observation of each of the three most distant quasars known, at redshifts 5.82, 5.99, and 6.28. All three were significantly detected, even in these short, 6--8 Ksec exposures. Their X-ray to optical luminosity ratios are median values for high redshift, high luminosity quasars, indicating that quasars at higher L\mathrm{X}/L\mathrm{O} will be detectable if they exist at even larger redshifts.
These observations hint at two exciting discoveries. An extended, or multiple, X-ray source 23\arcsec\ from SDSS\,1306+0356 is most likely a jet, emitting inverse Compton radiation from the Cosmic Microwave Background. SDSS\,1030+0524 does not appear to be a point source, and according to the probabilities predicted by Wyithe and Loeb, may be a gravitationally lensed system. Both of these are signficant as X-ray detections, but the above interpretations require confirmation by longer observations.
This work was supported by NASA contract NAS8-39073 to the \emph{Chandra} X-ray Center.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.