Variability-selected quasars behind the Small Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

We present followup spectroscopic observations of quasar candidates in the Small Magellanic Cloud selected by Eyer from the OGLE database. Of twelve observed objects identified as "QSO Candidate", five are confirmed quasars, with the emission redshifts ranging from 0.28 to 2.16. Two of those quasars were also recently identified independently in the MACHO database by Geha et al. We discuss the prospects of using variability-based selection technique for quasar searches behind other dense stellar fields. An additional criterion utilizing the color-color diagram should reduce the number of stars in the candidate lists.Comment: Revised version, AASTeX, 11 pages, 3 EPS figures, one table, accepted 14 Nov 2002 for publication in the Astronomical Journal, March 2003 issu