I mentioned in my other post about quasars that there was another project I wanted to work on. This is it. This is one of those images I did just to see if I could do it. The Twin Quasar was discovered in 1979 and is the first gravitationally lensed object identified, thus proving Albert Einstein’s prediction from his General Theory of Relativity. Einstein thought that humans would never be able to actually observe this effect, but it has now been observed numerous times.
The larger galaxy is NGC 3079, also known as the Phantom Frisbee Galaxy. It is located in Ursa Major about 50 million light years from Earth. However, that is nothing compared to the Twin Quasar, which is 8.7 billion light years out there. This is by far the farthest object I have knowingly imaged. The age of the solar system and our planet is around 4.5 billion years; the light that is captured from the Twin Quasar left before our planet even existed. What looks like two stars is actually a quasar with a galaxy between it and our planet. The galaxy (designated YGKOW G1 and too dim to see in this image) is about 3.7 billion light years and the quasar is 8.7 billion light years. The effect is known as gravitational lensing, the warping of space-time as it passes massive objects.
Read more about gravitational lensing and at this link there is a Hubble Space Telescope image in which the galaxy causing the lensing can be seen.
One reply on “The Twin Quasar”
8.7 billion light years. I have no understanding of this distance, it’s just beyond understanding. It makes me think the universe really is endless.
One reply on “The Twin Quasar”
8.7 billion light years. I have no understanding of this distance, it’s just beyond understanding. It makes me think the universe really is endless.