2020ApJ...899...76J

We report the discovery and confirmation of a bright quasi-stellar object (QSO), 2MASS J13260399 + 7023462, at z=2.889. This QSO is the first spectroscopically confirmed candidate from an ongoing search using the combination of Gaia and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer photometry to identify bright QSOs at z > 2, the redshift regime for which the Lyα forest is accessible with ground-based facilities. With a Gaia apparent magnitude G = 16.07, 2MASS J13260399 + 7023462 is one of the brightest QSOs known at z > 2, with only 15 currently known brighter QSOs. Given its inferred M_1450,AB magnitude and redshift, it is among the most luminous objects in the universe; the inferred black hole mass and corresponding Eddington ratio are (2.7 ± 0.4) x 10¹⁰ M_☉ and 1.3 ± 0.3, respectively. Follow-up Hubble observations confirm it is not gravitationally lensed.