3C 273

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3C 273
Best image of bright quasar 3C 273 (10953173335).jpg
Quasar 3C 273 taken by HST [1]
Observation data (Epoch J2000)
Constellation Virgo
Right ascension 12h 29m 06.7s [2]
Declination +02° 03′ 09″ [2]
Redshift 0.158339 ± 0.000067 [2]
Distance 2.443  Gly (749  Mpc) [3] [4] (luminosity distance)
1.80+0.32
−0.28 Gly (552+97
−79 Mpc) [5] (parallax distance)
Type Blazar; Sy1 [2]
Apparent magnitude  (V)12.9 [2]
Notable featuresoptically brightest quasar, first spectrum of a quasar
Other designations
PGC 41121 [2] and HIP 60936
See also: Quasar, List of quasars

3C 273 is a quasar located at the center of a giant elliptical galaxy in the constellation of Virgo. It was the first quasar ever to be identified and is the visually brightest quasar in the sky as seen from Earth, with an apparent visual magnitude of 12.9. [2] The derived distance to this object is 749 megaparsecs (2.4  billion light-years ). The mass of its central supermassive black hole is approximately 886 million times the mass of the Sun.

Contents

Observation

3C 273 is visible from March to July in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Situated in the Virgo constellation, it is bright enough to be observed by eye with a 6-inch (150 mm) amateur telescope. [6] Due in part to its radio luminosity and its discovery as the first identified quasar, 3C 273's right ascension in the Fifth Fundamental Catalog (FK5) is used to standardize the positions of 23 extragalactic radio sources used to define the International Celestial Reference System (ICRS). [7]

Given its distance from Earth and visual magnitude, 3C 273 is the most distant celestial object average amateur astronomers are likely to see through their telescopes.

Properties

3C 273 as imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Light from the bright quasar nucleus is blocked by a coronagraph so that the surrounding host galaxy can be more easily seen. Credit: NASA/ESA Quasar 3C 273.jpg
3C 273 as imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Light from the bright quasar nucleus is blocked by a coronagraph so that the surrounding host galaxy can be more easily seen. Credit: NASA/ESA

This is the optically brightest quasar in the sky from Earth with an apparent visual magnitude of ~12.9, and one of the closest with a redshift, z, of 0.158. [8] A luminosity distance of DL = 749 megaparsecs (2.4  billion light-years ) may be calculated from z. [4] Using parallax methods with the Very Large Telescope interferometer yields a distance estimate of 1.80+0.32
−0.28 Gly (552+97
−79 Mpc). [5]

It is one of the most luminous quasars known, with an absolute magnitude of −26.7, [9] meaning that if it were only as distant as Pollux (~10 parsecs) it would appear nearly as bright in the sky as the Sun. [10] Since the Sun's absolute magnitude is 4.83, it means that the quasar is over 4 trillion times more luminous than the Sun at visible wavelengths. [11]

The luminosity of 3C 273 is variable at nearly every wavelength from radio waves to gamma rays on timescales of a few days to decades. Polarization with coincident orientation has been observed with radio, infrared, and optical light being emitted from a large-scale jet; these emissions are therefore almost certainly synchrotron in nature. [4] The radiation is created by a jet of charged particles moving at relativistic speeds. VLBI radio observations of 3C 273 have revealed proper motion of some of the radio emitting regions, further suggesting the presence of relativistic jets of material. [12] [13]

This is a prototype of an Active Galactic Nucleus, demonstrating that the energy is being produced through accretion by a supermassive black hole (SMBH). No other astrophysical source can produce the observed energy. [14] The mass of its central SMBH has been measured to be 886±187 million solar masses through broad emission-line reverberation mapping. [15]

Large-scale jet

The quasar has a large-scale visible jet, which measures ~200,000 light-years (61 kpc) long, having an apparent size of 23″. [4] Such jets are believed to be created by the interaction of the central black hole and the accretion disk. In 1995, optical imaging of the jet using the Hubble Space Telescope revealed a structured morphology evidenced by repeated bright knots interlaced by areas of weak emission. [4] The viewing angle of the jet is about 6° as seen from Earth. The jet was observed to abruptly change direction by an intrinsic angle of 2° in 2003, which is larger than the jet's intrinsic opening angle of 1.1°. [16] An expanding cocoon of heated gas is being generated by the jet, which may be impacting an inclined disk of gas within the central ~ 6 kpc. [14]

Host galaxy

3C 273 lies at the center of a giant elliptical galaxy with an apparent magnitude of 16 and an apparent size of 29 arcseconds. The morphological classification of the host galaxy is E4, [17] indicating a moderately flattened elliptical shape. The galaxy has an estimated mass of ~ 2×1011  M☉ . [18]

History

The name signifies that it was the 273rd object (ordered by right ascension) of the Third Cambridge Catalog of Radio Sources (3C), published in 1959. After accurate positions were obtained using lunar occultation by Cyril Hazard at the Parkes Radio Telescope, [19] the radio source was quickly associated with an optical counterpart, an unresolved stellar object. In 1963, Maarten Schmidt [8] and Bev Oke [20] published a pair of papers in Nature reporting that 3C 273 has a substantial redshift of 0.158, placing it several billion light-years away.

Prior to the discovery of 3C 273, several other radio sources had been associated with optical counterparts, the first being 3C 48. Also, many active galaxies had been misidentified as variable stars, including the famous BL Lac, W Com and AU CVn. However, it was not understood what these objects were, since their spectra were unlike those of any known stars. Its spectrum did not resemble that of any normal stars with typical stellar elements. 3C 273 was the first object to be identified as a quasar—an extremely luminous object at an astronomical distance.

3C 273 is a radio-loud quasar, and was also one of the first extragalactic X-ray sources discovered in 1970. However, even to this day, the process which gives rise to the X-ray emissions is controversial. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quasar</span> Active galactic nucleus containing a supermassive black hole

A quasar is an extremely luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). It is sometimes known as a quasi-stellar object, abbreviated QSO. The emission from an AGN is powered by a supermassive black hole with a mass ranging from millions to tens of billions of solar masses, surrounded by a gaseous accretion disc. Gas in the disc falling towards the black hole heats up and releases energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation. The radiant energy of quasars is enormous; the most powerful quasars have luminosities thousands of times greater than that of a galaxy such as the Milky Way. Quasars are usually categorized as a subclass of the more general category of AGN. The redshifts of quasars are of cosmological origin.

An active galactic nucleus (AGN) is a compact region at the center of a galaxy that emits a significant amount of energy across the electromagnetic spectrum, with characteristics indicating that this luminosity is not produced by the stars. Such excess, non-stellar emissions have been observed in the radio, microwave, infrared, optical, ultra-violet, X-ray and gamma ray wavebands. A galaxy hosting an AGN is called an active galaxy. The non-stellar radiation from an AGN is theorized to result from the accretion of matter by a supermassive black hole at the center of its host galaxy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio galaxy</span> Type of active galaxy that is very luminous at radio wavelengths

A radio galaxy is a galaxy with giant regions of radio emission extending well beyond its visible structure. These energetic radio lobes are powered by jets from its active galactic nucleus. They have luminosities up to 1039 W at radio wavelengths between 10 MHz and 100 GHz. The radio emission is due to the synchrotron process. The observed structure in radio emission is determined by the interaction between twin jets and the external medium, modified by the effects of relativistic beaming. The host galaxies are almost exclusively large elliptical galaxies. Radio-loud active galaxies can be detected at large distances, making them valuable tools for observational cosmology. Recently, much work has been done on the effects of these objects on the intergalactic medium, particularly in galaxy groups and clusters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blazar</span> Very compact quasi-stellar radio source

A blazar is an active galactic nucleus (AGN) with a relativistic jet directed very nearly towards an observer. Relativistic beaming of electromagnetic radiation from the jet makes blazars appear much brighter than they would be if the jet were pointed in a direction away from Earth. Blazars are powerful sources of emission across the electromagnetic spectrum and are observed to be sources of high-energy gamma ray photons. Blazars are highly variable sources, often undergoing rapid and dramatic fluctuations in brightness on short timescales. Some blazar jets appear to exhibit superluminal motion, another consequence of material in the jet traveling toward the observer at nearly the speed of light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BL Lacertae object</span> Type of active galactic nucleus

A BL Lacertae object or BL Lac object is a type of active galactic nucleus (AGN) or a galaxy with such an AGN, named after its prototype, BL Lacertae. In contrast to other types of active galactic nuclei, BL Lacs are characterized by rapid and large-amplitude flux variability and significant optical polarization. Because of these properties, the prototype of the class was originally thought to be a variable star. When compared to the more luminous active nuclei (quasars) with strong emission lines, BL Lac objects have spectra dominated by a relatively featureless non-thermal emission continuum over the entire electromagnetic range. This lack of spectral lines historically hindered identification of the nature and distance of such objects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3C 279</span> Optically violent variable quasar in the constellation Virgo

3C 279 is an optically violent variable quasar (OVV), which is known in the astronomical community for its variations in the visible, radio and x-ray bands. The quasar was observed to have undergone a period of extreme activity from 1987 until 1991. The Rosemary Hill Observatory (RHO) started observing 3C 279 in 1971, the object was further observed by the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory in 1991, when it was unexpectedly discovered to be one of the brightest gamma ray objects in the sky. It is also one of the brightest and most variable sources in the gamma ray sky monitored by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. It was used as a calibrator source for Event Horizon Telescope observations of M87* that resulted in the first image of a black hole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centaurus A</span> Radio galaxy in the constellation Centaurus

Centaurus A is a galaxy in the constellation of Centaurus. It was discovered in 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop from his home in Parramatta, in New South Wales, Australia. There is considerable debate in the literature regarding the galaxy's fundamental properties such as its Hubble type and distance. NGC 5128 is one of the closest radio galaxies to Earth, so its active galactic nucleus has been extensively studied by professional astronomers. The galaxy is also the fifth-brightest in the sky, making it an ideal amateur astronomy target. It is only visible from the southern hemisphere and low northern latitudes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halton Arp</span> American astronomer

Halton Christian "Chip" Arp was an American astronomer. He is remembered for his 1966 book Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies, which catalogued unusual looking galaxies and presented their images.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astrophysical jet</span> Beam of ionized matter flowing along the axis of a rotating astronomical object

An astrophysical jet is an astronomical phenomenon where outflows of ionised matter are emitted as extended beams along the axis of rotation. When this greatly accelerated matter in the beam approaches the speed of light, astrophysical jets become relativistic jets as they show effects from special relativity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3C 48</span>

3C48 is a quasar discovered in 1960; it was the second source conclusively identified as such.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cygnus A</span> Radio galaxy

Cygnus A (3C 405) is a radio galaxy, one of the strongest radio sources in the sky. A concentrated radio source in Cygnus was discovered by Grote Reber in 1939. In 1946 Stanley Hey and his colleague James Phillips identified that the source scintillated rapidly, and must therefore be a compact object. In 1951, Cygnus A, along with Cassiopeia A, and Puppis A were the first "radio stars" identified with an optical source. Of these, Cygnus A became the first radio galaxy, the other two being nebulae inside the Milky Way. In 1953 Roger Jennison and M K Das Gupta showed it to be a double source. Like all radio galaxies, it contains an active galactic nucleus. The supermassive black hole at the core has a mass of (2.5±0.7)×109 M☉.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3C 286</span> Quasar often used for calibration

3C 286, also known by its position as 1328+307 or 1331+305, is a quasar at redshift 0.8493 with a radial velocity of 164,137 km/s. It is part of the Third Cambridge Catalogue of Radio Sources.

The Cloverleaf quasar is a bright, gravitationally lensed quasar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3C 371</span> Active galaxy in the constellation Draco

3C 371 is a BL Lac object located in the constellation Draco. With a redshift of 0.051, this active galaxy is about 730 million light-years away.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3862</span> Galaxy in the constellation Leo

NGC 3862 is an elliptical galaxy located 300 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. Discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 27, 1785, NGC 3862 is an outlying member of the Leo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 541</span> Galaxy in the constellation Cetus

NGC 541 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Cetus. It is located at a distance of about 230 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 541 is about 130,000 light years across. It was discovered by Heinrich d'Arrest on October 30, 1864. It is a member of the Abell 194 galaxy cluster and is included in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies in the category galaxies with nearby fragments. NGC 541 is a radio galaxy of Fanaroff–Riley class I, also known as 3C 40A.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3C 120</span> Galaxy in the constellation Taurus

3C 120, also known as Markarian 1506, is an active galaxy located in the constellation of Taurus, at a distance of about 420 million light years. It has been categorised as a type I Seyfert galaxy and a broad-line radio galaxy. 3C 120 has been found to be a variable source in all wavelengths and hosts a superluminal jet.

References

  1. ↑ "Best image of bright quasar 3C 273". ESA/Hubble Picture of the Week. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for 3C 273. Retrieved 2006-10-26.
  3. ↑ "3C 273". XJET: X-Ray Emission from Extragalactic Radio Jets. 2008-01-11. Retrieved 2010-04-05.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Uchiyama, Yasunobu; Urry, C. Megan; Cheung, C. C.; Jester, Sebastian; Van Duyne, Jeffrey; Coppi, Paolo; et al. (2006). "Shedding New Light on the 3C 273 Jet with the Spitzer Space Telescope". The Astrophysical Journal. 648 (2): 910–921. arXiv: astro-ph/0605530 . Bibcode:2006ApJ...648..910U. doi:10.1086/505964. S2CID   119520309.
  5. 1 2 Wang, Jian-Min; Songsheng, Yu-Yang; Li, Yan-Rong; Du, Pu; Zhang, Zhi-Xiang (January 2020). "A parallax distance to 3C 273 through spectroastrometry and reverberation mapping". Nature Astronomy. 4 (5): 517–525. arXiv: 1906.08417 . Bibcode:2020NatAs...4..517W. doi:10.1038/s41550-019-0979-5. S2CID   256707018.
  6. ↑ Talcott, Richard (November 17, 2023), "Target acquired: Observe Quasar 3C 273", Astronomy
  7. ↑ International Earth Rotation & Reference Systems Service. "Definition of ICRS Axes" . Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  8. 1 2 Schmidt, M. (1963). "3C 273 : A Star-Like Object with Large Red-Shift". Nature. 197 (4872): 1040. Bibcode:1963Natur.197.1040S. doi: 10.1038/1971040a0 .
  9. ↑ Greenstein, Jesse L.; Schmidt, Maarten (1964). "The Quasi-Stellar Radio Sources 3C 48 and 3C 273". The Astrophysical Journal. 140: 1. Bibcode:1964ApJ...140....1G. doi: 10.1086/147889 . S2CID   123147304.
  10. ↑ "Best image of bright quasar 3C 273". esahubble.org. November 18, 2013. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
  11. ↑ Per the formula for comparing fluxes and magnitudes: .
  12. ↑ Pearson, T. J.; Unwin, S. C.; Cohen, M. H.; Linfield, R. P.; Readhead, A. C. S.; Seielstad, G. A.; Simon, R. S.; Walker, R. C. (1981). "Superluminal expansion of quasar 3C273". Nature. 290 (5805): 365. Bibcode:1981Natur.290..365P. doi:10.1038/290365a0. S2CID   26508893.
  13. ↑ Davis, R. J.; Unwin, S. C.; Muxlow, T. W. B. (1991). "Large-scale superluminal motion in the quasar 3C273". Nature. 354 (6352): 374. Bibcode:1991Natur.354..374D. doi:10.1038/354374a0. S2CID   4271003.
  14. 1 2 Husemann, Bernd; Bennert, Vardha N.; Jahnke, Knud; Davis, Timothy A.; Woo, Jong-Hak; Scharwächter, Julia; Schulze, Andreas; Gaspari, Massimo; Zwaan, Martin A. (July 2019). "Jet-driven Galaxy-scale Gas Outflows in the Hyperluminous Quasar 3C 273". The Astrophysical Journal. 879 (2): 75. arXiv: 1905.10387 . Bibcode:2019ApJ...879...75H. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab24bc . S2CID   166227892. 75.
  15. ↑ Peterson, B. M.; Ferrarese, L.; Gilbert, K. M.; Kaspi, S.; Malkan, M. A.; Maoz, D.; et al. (2004). "Central Masses of AGNs. II". The Astrophysical Journal. 613 (2): 682–699. arXiv: astro-ph/0407299 . Bibcode:2004ApJ...613..682P. doi:10.1086/423269. S2CID   16308360.
  16. ↑ Lisakov, M. M.; Kravchenko, E. V.; Pushkarev, A. B.; Kovalev, Y. Y.; Savolainen, T. K.; Lister, M. L. (March 2021). "An Oversized Magnetic Sheath Wrapping around the Parsec-scale Jet in 3C 273". The Astrophysical Journal. 910 (1): 35. arXiv: 2102.04563 . Bibcode:2021ApJ...910...35L. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/abe1bd . S2CID   231855529. 35.
  17. ↑ Bahcall, John N.; Kirhakos, Sofia; Saxe, David H.; Schneider, Donald P. (1997). "Hubble Space Telescope Images of a Sample of 20 Nearby Luminous Quasars". The Astrophysical Journal. 479 (2): 642–658. arXiv: astro-ph/9611163 . Bibcode:1997ApJ...479..642B. doi:10.1086/303926. S2CID   15318893.
  18. ↑ Zhang, Zhi-Xiang; Du, Pu; Smith, Paul S.; Zhao, Yulin; Hu, Chen; Xiao, Ming; Li, Yan-Rong; Huang, Ying-Ke; Wang, Kai; Bai, Jin-Ming; Ho, Luis C.; Wang, Jian-Min (May 2019). "Kinematics of the Broad-line Region of 3C 273 from a 10 yr Reverberation Mapping Campaign". The Astrophysical Journal. 876 (1): 49. arXiv: 1811.03812 . Bibcode:2019ApJ...876...49Z. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab1099 . S2CID   119403004. 49.
  19. ↑ Hazard, C.; Mackey, M. B.; Shimmins, A. J. (1963). "Investigation of the Radio Source 3C273 by the method of Lunar Occultations". Nature. 197 (4872): 1037. Bibcode:1963Natur.197.1037H. doi:10.1038/1971037a0. S2CID   4270661.
  20. ↑ Oke, J. B. (1963). "Absolute Energy Distribution in the Optical Spectrum of 3C 273". Nature. 197 (4872): 1040–1041. Bibcode:1963Natur.197.1040O. doi:10.1038/1971040b0. S2CID   4269940.
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