Quasar 3C-273

[kinetic]

An object I've wanted to try and get for a while.
Quite easy at around mag 12.9 but to date , THE most distant object
I have imaged with a camera, at 2.4 G LY!

Hard to believe the light I captured tonight started out on its
journey in a very different universe around 2.4 Billion years ago.

Some info here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3C_273) about 3C-273

Steve

[Shiraz]

that must be a very satisfying result Steve - the sort of effort that makes this hobby so worthwhile. :thumbsup:

[Ross G]

Wow!

Great capture Steve.

Ross.

[Placidus]

Superb!

How do you know that the object is the quasar? Do you have an atlas of field stars to compare with? Are you relying on an extremely accurate GoTo model?

Well done,
Mike

[Merlin66]

Steve,
Well done!
This is a popular object for the novices with a spectroscope grating - to measure the redshift.
Maurice Gavin was the first amateur to do this in 1998, he measured Z=0.16

[multiweb]

Very cool Steve. Love that kind of stuff. :thumbsup:

[RickS]

Congrats on bagging it, Steve!

[kinetic]

Thanks guys,
Mike,
I used co ordinates in Cartes to drive to the field from the main Y of Virgo, then used
a pic from a NOAA page link (http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/html/im0127.html) with a similar FOV.This pic (http://spider.seds.org/spider/Misc/Pics/3c273kp.jpg).
The NOAA pic btw is from the 4m scope at KPNO and shows the jet as well.

Incidentally, the star set I have in Cartes got me in the right FOV anyway so it is not
much of a challenge. Easily found. I will spend a few more nights on it and see if I can
squeeze out the jet as well.
I would love to do some spectroscopy on it Ken, that is something I would like to dive into at some stage.

Steve

[Merlin66]

We will be having a Spectroscopy session at the next VASTROC conference in April.
You should come along if you can.
http://vastroc.net/

[astroron]

Easily observable visually in scopes from about 8" and upwards.
A good star chart and a photo help to identify the Quasar.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Merlin66]

Maurice was using a 12" Lx200 to record the spectrum, which due to the grating dispersion is roughly 4-5 mags fainter....

[kinetic]

Another set from tonight,
a bit of a marathon set, with extreme histo grief I can bring
something out in the spot where the jet should be....

but I haven't picked up 3 very faint galaxies (extended objects) that
show in the 4m KPNO image and the HST image.

BTW, this (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Best_image_of_bright_quasar_3C_273. jpg) image from HST is amazing.....look at the background galaxies,
although I think they are possible foreground galaxies to the quasar?!!

Steve

[kinetic]

Another easily found quasar in Libra from last night.
I'm working my way through this list (http://spider.seds.org/spider/Misc/qso.html) of easier ones! :)
This (http://quasar.square7.ch/fqm/1514-241.html) object, known as 1514-241 in Libra is classified as a
variable BL Lacertae (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BL_Lac_object) object.

Some information about BL Lac objects and superluminal velocities!
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superluminal_motion)
Magnitude varies from around 14-15

Distance reported as 202Mparsec.
redshift z~0.0490