THE UV-BRIGHT QUASAR SURVEY (UVQS): DR1

We present the first data release (DR1) from our UV-bright Quasar Survey for new z ∼ 1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) across the sky. Using simple GALEX UV and WISE near-IR color selection criteria, we generated a list of 1450 primary candidates with FUV < 18.5 mag. We obtained discovery spectra, primarily on 3 m-class telescopes, for 1040 of these candidates and confirmed 86% as AGNs, with redshifts generally at z > 0.5. Including a small set of observed secondary candidates, we report the discovery of 217 AGNs with FUV < 18 mag that previously had no reported spectroscopic redshift. These are excellent potential targets for UV spectroscopy before the end of the Hubble Space Telescope mission. The main data products are publicly available through the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes.