This Hubble Space Telescope image reveals a bright starlike glow in the center of the interacting galaxy Markarian 231, the nearest quasar to Earth. Located 581 million light-years away, we are seeing the galaxy as it looked before multicelled life first appeared on Earth. Quasars are powered by a central black hole that heats the gas around it to unleash tremendous amounts of energy. Hubble spectroscopic observations infer the presence of two supermassive black holes whirling around each other. Because such a dynamic duo is found in the nearest quasar, it would imply that many quasars host binary-black-hole systems. It would be a natural result of a galaxy merger.
Credits
NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)| About The Object | |
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| Object Name | Markarian 231, Mrk 231, UGC 8058, VII Zw 490, QSO B1254+571 |
| Object Description | Quasar with a Binary Black Hole |
| R.A. Position | 12h 56m 14.23s |
| Dec. Position | 56° 52' 25.24" |
| Constellation | Ursa Major |
| Distance | 581 million light-years (178 million parsecs) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The Hubble image was created using HST data from proposal : A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University). The galaxy pair was imaged with the ACS/WFC instrument with filters F435W (B) and F814W (I) on May 10, 2002. The science team comprises: C.-S. Yan and Y. Lu (National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing), X. Dai (University of Oklahoma), and Q. Yu (Peking University). Several Hubble archival spectral observations of Mrk 231 were used in these science findings: Proposal : PI: R. Angel (U. Arizona) Proposal : PI: D. Turnshek (U. Pittsburgh) Proposal : PI: S. Veilleux (U. Maryland) |
| Instrument | HST>FOS, and HST>COS |
| Exposure Dates | November 27, 1992, November 21, 1996, and October 15, 2011 |
| Filters | Gratings: G190/270H, G160L, and G130M |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
