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Quasar’s Light Yields Clues to Outflow

Quasar's Light Yields Clues to Outflow
This graphic shows how NASA's Hubble Space Telescope probed the light from a distant quasar to analyze the so-called Fermi Bubbles, two lobes of material being blown out of the core of our Milky Way galaxy. The quasar's light passed through one of the bubbles. Imprinted on that light is information about the outflow's speed, composition, and eventually mass. The outflow was produced by a violent event that happened about 2 million years ago in our galaxy's core.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    17h 28m 19.80s
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -14° 15' 55".87
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Serpens
  • Distance
    DistanceThe 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.
    2 billion light-years (600 megaparsecs)

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data 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.
    Data were obtained from the HST proposal: 13448, P.I. A. Fox (STScI) et al. The science team comprises: A. Fox and R. Bordoloi (STScI), B. Savage (University of Wisconsin, Madison), F. Lockman (NRAO/GBT), E. Jenkins (Princeton University Observatory), B. Wakker (University of Wisconsin, Madison), J. Bland-Hawthorn (Institute of Astronomy/University of Sydney), S. Hernandez (STScI), T.-S. Kim (Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Italy), R. Benjamin (University of Wisconsin, Whitewater), D. Bowen (Princeton University Observatory), and J. Tumlinson (STScI).
  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    HST>COS
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    February 10, 2014, Exposure Time: 3.8 hours
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    Gratings: G130M and G160M
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    PDS 456
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Quasar
  • Release Date
    January 5, 2015
  • Science Release
    Hubble Discovers that Milky Way Core Drives Wind at 2 Million Miles Per Hour
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI)

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Details

Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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