The unusual quasar HE 2347-4342

This is a direct image of HE 2347-4342 at the centre of a 7.5 x 7.5 arcmin 2 sky field. HE 2347-4342 was discovered in October 1995 by Lutz Wisotzki from the University of Hamburg; the 'HE' stands for Hamburg-ESO . The visual magnitude is 16.1, i.e. `only' 10,000 times fainter than what can be seen with the naked eye; this makes it one of the apparently brightest quasars in the sky found so far. Still, it is quite distant - the measured redshift is z = 2.885.

This places it at a distance that implies a look-back time of more than 80% of the age of the Universe. We thus observe it, as it was, just a few billion years after the Big Bang. Being so bright in the sky and yet so distant means that HE 2347-4342 must be one of the intrinsically brightest objects in the Universe. In fact, it is no less than 10 15 times more luminous than the Sun, or 10,000 times brighter than the entire Milky Way galaxy in which we live.

Crédit:

ESO

À propos de l'image

Identification:eso9720a
Type:Observation
Date de publication:1 août 1997
Communiqués de presse en rapport:eso9720
Taille:529 x 529 px

À propos de l'objet

Nom:HE 2347-4342
Type:Early Universe : Galaxy : Activity : AGN : Quasar
Distance:z=2.885 (redshift)
Constellation:Phoenix
Catégorie:Quasars and Black Holes

Image Formats

Grand JPEG
58,2 Kio
JPEG taille écran
136,4 Kio

Fonds d'écran

1024x768
129,9 Kio
1280x1024
180,6 Kio
1600x1200
221,3 Kio
1920x1200
229,4 Kio
2048x1536
296,2 Kio

Coordinates

Position (RA):23 50 34.31
Position (Dec):-43° 25' 59.13"
Field of view:7.48 x 7.48 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.3° left of vertical

Couleurs & filtres

DomaineTélescope
VisibleESO 1-metre telescope