CALDERONE, GIORGIOGIORGIOCALDERONEBoutsia, KonstantinaKonstantinaBoutsiaCRISTIANI, StefanoStefanoCRISTIANIGRAZIAN, AndreaAndreaGRAZIANAmorin, RicardoRicardoAmorinD'ODORICO, ValentinaValentinaD'ODORICOCUPANI, GuidoGuidoCUPANIFONTANOT, FabioFabioFONTANOTSalvato, MaraMaraSalvato2021-01-292021-01-2920190004-637Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/30113The study of absorptions along the lines of sight to bright high-z QSOs is an invaluable cosmological tool that provides a wealth of information on the inter-/circum-galactic medium, dark matter, primordial elements, reionization, fundamental constants, and general relativity. Unfortunately, the number of bright (i ≲ 18) QSOs at z ≳ 2 in the southern hemisphere is much lower than that in the north, due to the lack of wide multiwavelength surveys at decl. δ < 0°, hampering the effectiveness of observations from southern observatories. In this work we present a new method based on Canonical Correlation Analysis to identify such objects, taking advantage of a number of available databases: Skymapper, Gaia DR2, WISE, and 2MASS. Our QSO candidate sample lists 1476 sources with i < 18 over 12,400 square degrees in the southern hemisphere. With a preliminary campaign we observed spectroscopically 69 of them, confirming 54 new bright QSOs at z > 2.5, corresponding to a success rate of our method of ∼80%. Furthermore, we estimate a completeness of ∼90% of our sample at completion of our observation campaign. The new QSOs confirmed by this first and the forthcoming campaigns (QUBRICS<SUP>10</SUP> survey) will be the targets of subsequent studies using higher resolution spectrographs, like ESPRESSO, UVES, and (in the long term) ELT/HIRES.STAMPAenArticle10.3847/1538-4357/ab510a2-s2.0-85077335323000506012000162https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ab510a2019ApJ...887..268CFIS/05 - ASTRONOMIA E ASTROFISICAERC sectors::Physical Sciences and Engineering::PE9 Universe sciences: astro-physics/chemistry/biology; solar systems; stellar, galactic and extragalactic astronomy, planetary systems, cosmology, space science, instrumentation::PE9_8 Formation and evolution of galaxies