The quasar without a home: HE0450-2958

(Left) HST image of the z=0.285 quasar HE0450-2958. No obvious host galaxy centred on the quasar is seen. Only a strongly disturbed and star forming companion galaxy is seen near the top of the image. (Right) Same image shown after applying an efficient image sharpening method known as MCS-deconvolution. In contrast to the usual cases, as the ones shown in ESO Press Photo eso0529, the quasar is not situated at the centre of an extended host galaxy, but on the edge of a compact structure, whose spectra (see ESO Press Photo eso0529) show it to be composed of gas ionised by the quasar radiation. This gas may have been captured through a collision with the star-forming galaxy. The star indicated on the figure is a nearby galactic star seen by chance in the field of view.

Crédit:

HST

À propos de l'image

Identification:eso0529b
Type:Collage
Date de publication:14 septembre 2005
Communiqués de presse en rapport:eso0529
Taille:3265 x 1464 px

À propos de l'objet

Nom:HE0450-2958
Type:Early Universe : Galaxy : Activity : AGN : Quasar
Distance:z=0.285 (redshift)
Catégorie:Cosmology
Quasars and Black Holes

Image Formats

Grand JPEG
657,5 Kio
JPEG taille écran
110,0 Kio

Couleurs & filtres

DomaineTélescope
VisibleVery Large Telescope
VisibleHubble Space Telescope