An image of the gravitational lens candidate taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WF/PC) in PC mode, on 23 December 1991. The HST picture shows that the quasar actually consists of two images. HST observations to be made this winter will show whether this is a gravitational lens or a chance superposition of a star in our own galaxy and a quasar. The bar in the lower left represents one arc second (the diameter of a penny seen at about two miles) which is the typical resolution of ground-based telescopes.
This image is being presented on Monday, January 13th at the 179th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Atlanta, Georgia.
Credits
J. Bahcall/NASA;Investigators: John Bachall (IAS Princeton), Dan Maoz (IAS, Princeton), Donald Schneider (IAS, Princeton) Brian Yanny (IAS, Princeton), Rodger Doxsey (STScI) Neta Bahcall (Princeton), Qfer Lahav (Cambridge, England)
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Quasar 1208+101 |
| R.A. Position | 12h 10m 57.07s |
| Dec. Position | 09° 54' 27.2" |
| 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. |
