The Spectrum of the unusual quasar HE 2347-4342

This diagram shows the spectrum of the newly discovered, unusually bright quasar HE 2347-4342 . It is a composite of data obtained with the FOS instrument at the Hubble Space Telescope (ultraviolet part - to the left) and the EFOSC instrument at the ESO/MPI 2.2 m telescope at La Silla (visual part - to the right). The abscissa unit is Angstrom (1 A = 10 -10 m); the ordinate is relative intensity (brightness).

The strong Lyman-alpha hydrogen line in this remote object (redshift z = 2.885) is seen at 4700 A. Note also the intensity increase towards the ultraviolet part at the left in the diagram which is due to the unusually `clear view' in this direction. The He + area near 1180 A is just outside the left border. The feature near 2800 A is an artifact. The two `holes' correspond to spectral regions in which the data are too noisy (left) or missing (centre).

Observations described in ESO Press Release eso9720 (1 August 1997) have shown that there are large regions of still not fully ionized helium near this object. This is the first time that is has been possible to look back to the re-ionization epoch in the early Universe, a few billion years after the Big Bang .

Crédito:

ESO

Sobre la imagen

Identificador:eso9720b
Tipo:Observación
Fecha de publicación:1 de Agosto de 1997
Noticias relacionadas:eso9720
Tamaño:1064 x 697 px

Sobre el objeto

Nombre:HE 2347-4342, Spectrum
Tipo:Early Universe : Galaxy : Activity : AGN : Quasar
Distancia:z=2.885 (desplazamiento al rojo)
Categoría:Quasars and Black Holes

Formatos de imagen

JPEG grande
98,3 KB

Colores y filtros

BandaTelescopio
ÓpticoMPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope
EFOSC
OltravioletaMPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope
EFOSC