This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of a very distant quasar (at right) that has been magnified and split into three images by the effects of the gravitational field of a foreground galaxy (left). The crosses mark the centers of each quasar image.
The quasar would have gone undetected if not for the power of gravitational lensing, which boosted its brightness by a factor of 50. The gravitational field of the foreground galaxy (seen at left) warps space like a funhouse mirror, amplifying the quasar's light.
Shining with the brilliance of 600 trillion Suns, the quasar is fueled by a supermassive black hole at the heart of a young galaxy in the process of forming. The image shows the quasar as it looked 12.8 billion years ago — only about 1 billion years after the big bang.
The quasar appears red because its blue light has been absorbed by diffuse gas in intergalactic space. By comparison, the foreground galaxy has bluer starlight.
The quasar, cataloged as J043947.08+163415.7, could hold the record of being the brightest in the early universe for some time, making it a unique object for follow-up studies.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and X. Fan (University of Arizona)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | J0439+1634 |
| Object Description | Lensed Quasar |
| R.A. Position | 04:39:47.10 |
| Dec. Position | +16:34:15.79 |
| Constellation | Taurus |
| Distance | 12.873 billion light-years (z=6.51) |
| Dimensions | Image is 2.75 arcseconds across (about 170,000 light-years) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The HST observations include those from program (X. Fan) |
| Instrument | ACS/WFC |
| Exposure Dates | 3 Apr 2018 |
| Filters | FR782N, FR853N |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the ACS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample narrow wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Cyan: FR853N Orange: FR782N |
| Compass Image |  |
| 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. |
