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J0439+1634
This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of a very distant quasar (at right) that has been magnified and split into three images by the effects of the gravitational field of a foreground galaxy (left). The crosses mark the centers of each quasar image.
The quasar would have gone undetected if not for the power of gravitational lensing, which boosted its brightness by a factor of 50. The gravitational field of the foreground galaxy (seen at left) warps space like a funhouse mirror, amplifying the quasar's light.
Shining with the brilliance of 600 trillion Suns, the quasar is fueled by a supermassive black hole at the heart of a young galaxy in the process of forming. The image shows the quasar as it looked 12.8 billion years ago — only about 1 billion years after the big bang.
The quasar appears red because its blue light has been absorbed by diffuse gas in intergalactic space. By comparison, the foreground galaxy has bluer starlight.
The quasar, cataloged as J043947.08+163415.7, could hold the record of being the brightest in the early universe for some time, making it a unique object for follow-up studies.
About the Object
- R.A. PositionR.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.04:39:47.10
- Dec. PositionDec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.+16:34:15.79
- ConstellationConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.Taurus
- DistanceDistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.12.873 billion light-years (z=6.51)
- DimensionsDimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.Image is 2.75 arcseconds across (about 170,000 light-years)
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.The HST observations include those from program 15453 (X. Fan) - InstrumentInstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.ACS/WFC
- Exposure DatesExposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.3 Apr 2018
- FiltersFiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.FR782N, FR853N
- Object NameObject NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.J0439+1634
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.Lensed Quasar
- Release DateJanuary 9, 2019
- Science ReleaseNASA’s Hubble Helps Astronomers Uncover the Brightest Quasar in the Early Universe
- Credit
These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the ACS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample narrow wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Cyan: FR853N Orange: FR782N
Related Images & Videos
J0439+1634 Unannotated
This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of a very distant quasar (at right) that has been magnified and split into three images by the effects of the gravitational field of a foreground galaxy (left). The quasar would have gone undetected if not for the power of gravitational...
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
