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.

Bildnachweis:

ESO

Über das Bild

ID:eso9720a
Typ:Beobachtung
Veröffentlichungsdatum:1. August 1997
Dazugehörige Veröffentlichungen:eso9720
Größe:529 x 529 px

Über das Objekt

Name:HE 2347-4342
Typ:Early Universe : Galaxy : Activity : AGN : Quasar
Entfernung:z=2.885 (Rotverschiebung)
Constellation:Phoenix
Kategorie:Quasars and Black Holes

Bildformate

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Koordinaten

Position (RA):23 50 34.31
Position (Dec):-43° 25' 59.13"
Field of view:7.48 x 7.48 arcminutes
Orientierung:Die Nordrichtung liegt 0.3° links zur Vertikale

Farben & Filter

SpektralbereichTeleskop
OptischESO 1-metre telescope