This article contains lists of quasars. More than a million quasars have been observed, [1] so any list on Wikipedia is necessarily a selection of them.
Proper naming of quasars are by Catalogue Entry, Qxxxx±yy using B1950 coordinates, or QSO Jxxxx±yyyy using J2000 coordinates. They may also use the prefix QSR. There are currently no quasars that are visible to the naked eye.
This is a list of exceptional quasars for characteristics otherwise not separately listed
Quasar | Notes |
---|---|
Twin Quasar | Associated with a possible planet microlensing event in the gravitational lens galaxy that is doubling the Twin Quasar's image. |
QSR J1819+3845 | Proved interstellar scintillation due to the interstellar medium. |
CTA-102 | In 1965, Soviet astronomer Nikolai S. Kardashev declared that this quasar was sending coded messages from an alien civilization. [2] |
CID-42 | Its supermassive black hole is being ejected and will one day become a displaced quasar. |
TON 618 | TON 618 is a very distant and extremely luminous quasar—technically, a hyperluminous, broad-absorption line, radio-loud quasar—located near the North Galactic Pole in the constellation Canes Venatici. |
This is a list of quasars, with a common name, instead of a designation from a survey, catalogue or list.
Quasar | Origin of name | Notes |
---|---|---|
Twin Quasar | From the fact that two images of the same quasar are produced by gravitational lensing. | |
Einstein Cross | From the fact that gravitational lensing of the quasar forms a near perfect Einstein cross, a concept in gravitational lensing. | |
Triple Quasar | From the fact that there are three bright images of the same gravitationally lensed quasar. | There are actually four images; the fourth is faint. |
Cloverleaf | From its appearance having similarity to the leaf of a clover. It has been gravitationally lensed into four images, of roughly similar appearance. | |
Teacup Galaxy | The name comes from the shape of the extended emission, which is shaped like the handle of a teacup. The handle is a bubble shaped by quasar winds or small-scale radio jets. | Low redshift, highly obscured type 2 quasar. |
This is a list of quasars that as a result of gravitational lensing appear as multiple images on Earth.
Quasar | Images | Lens | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Twin Quasar | 2 | YGKOW G1 | First gravitationally lensed object discovered |
Triple Quasar (PG 1115+080) | 4 | Originally discovered as 3 lensed images, the fourth image is faint. It was the second gravitationally lensed quasar discovered. | |
Einstein Cross | 4 | Huchra's Lens | First Einstein Cross discovered |
RX J1131-1231's quasar | 4 | RX J1131-1231's elliptical galaxy | RX J1131-1231 is the name of the complex, quasar, host galaxy and lensing galaxy, together. The quasar's host galaxy is also lensed into a Chwolson ring about the lensing galaxy. The four images of the quasar are embedded in the ring image. |
Cloverleaf | 4 [3] | Brightest known high-redshift source of CO emission [4] | |
QSO B1359+154 | 6 | CLASS B1359+154 and three more galaxies | First sextuply-imaged galaxy |
SDSS J1004+4112 | 5 | Galaxy cluster at z = 0.68 | First quasar discovered to be multiply image-lensed by a galaxy cluster and currently the third largest quasar lens with the separation between images of 15″ [5] [6] [7] |
SDSS J1029+2623 | 3 | Galaxy cluster at z = 0.6 | The current largest-separation quasar lens with 22.6″ separation between furthest images [8] [9] [10] |
SDSS J2222+2745 | 6 [11] | Galaxy cluster at z = 0.49 [12] | First sextuply-lensed galaxy [11] Third quasar discovered to be lensed by a galaxy cluster. [12] Quasar located at z = 2.82 [12] |
This is a list of double quasars, triple quasars, and the like, where quasars are close together in line-of-sight, but not physically related.
Quasars | Count | Notes |
---|---|---|
QSO 1548+115
| 2 | [13] [14] |
QSO 1146+111 | 8 | [15] |
z represents redshift, a measure of recessional velocity and inferred distance due to cosmological expansion |
This is a list of binary quasars, trinary quasars, and the like, where quasars are physically close to each other.
Quasars | Count | Notes |
---|---|---|
quasars of SDSS J0841+3921 protocluster | 4 | First quasar quartet discovered. [16] [17] |
LBQS 1429-008 (QQQ 1432-0106) | 3 | First quasar triplet discovered. It was first discovered as a binary quasar, before the third quasar was found. [18] |
QQ2345+007 (Q2345+007)
| 2 | Originally thought to be a doubly imaged quasar, but actually a quasar couplet. [19] |
QQQ J1519+0627 | 3 | [20] |
Large quasar groups (LQGs) are bound to a filament of mass, and not directly bound to each other.
LQG | Count | Notes |
---|---|---|
Webster LQG (LQG 1) | 5 | First LQG discovered. At the time of its discovery, it was the largest structure known. [21] [22] |
Huge-LQG (U1.27) | 73 | The largest structure known in the observable universe, as of 2013. [23] [24] |
This is a list of quasars with jets that appear to be superluminal due to relativistic effects and line-of-sight orientation. Such quasars are sometimes referred to as superluminal quasars.
Quasar | Superluminality | Notes |
---|---|---|
3C 279 | 4c | First quasar discovered with superluminal jets [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] |
3C 179 | 7.6c | Fifth discovered, first with double lobes [30] |
3C 273 | This is also the first quasar ever identified [31] | |
3C 216 | ||
3C 345 | [31] [32] | |
3C 380 | ||
4C 69.21 (Q1642+690, QSO B1642+690) | ||
8C 1928+738 (Q1928+738, QSO J1927+73, Quasar J192748.6+735802) | ||
PKS 0637-752 | ||
QSO B1642+690 |
Quasars that have a recessional velocity greater than the speed of light (c) are very common. Any quasar with z > 1 is receding faster than c, while z exactly equal to 1 indicates recession at the speed of light. [33] Early attempts to explain superluminal quasars resulted in convoluted explanations with a limit of z = 2.326, or in the extreme z < 2.4. [34] The majority of quasars lie between z = 2 and z = 5.
Title | Quasar | Year | Data | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
First quasar discovered | 3C 48 | 1960 | first radio source for which optical identification was found, that was a star-like looking object | |
First "star" discovered later found to be a quasar | ||||
First radio source discovered later found to be a quasar | ||||
First quasar identified | 3C 273 | 1962 | first radio-"star" found to be at a high redshift with a non-stellar spectrum. | |
First radio-quiet quasar | QSO B1246+377 (BSO 1) | 1965 | The first radio-quiet quasi-stellar objects (QSO) were called Blue Stellar Objects or BSO, because they appeared like stars and were blue in color. They also had spectra and redshifts like radio-loud quasi-stellar radio-sources (QSR), so became quasars. [27] [35] [36] | |
First host galaxy of a quasar discovered | 3C 48 | 1982 | ||
First quasar found to seemingly not have a host galaxy | HE0450-2958 (Naked Quasar) | 2005 | Some disputed observations suggest a host galaxy, others do not. | |
First multi-core quasar | PG 1302-102 | 2014 | Binary supermassive black holes within the quasar | [37] [38] |
First quasar containing a recoiling supermassive black hole | SDSS J0927+2943 | 2008 | Two optical emission line systems separated by 2650 km/s | |
First gravitationally lensed quasar identified | Twin Quasar | 1979 | Lensed into 2 images | The lens is a galaxy known as YGKOW G1 |
First quasar found with a jet with apparent superluminal motion | 3C 279 | 1971 | [25] [26] [27] | |
First quasar found with the classic double radio-lobe structure | 3C 47 | 1964 | ||
First quasar found to be an X-ray source | 3C 273 | 1967 | [39] | |
First "dustless" quasar found | QSO J0303-0019 and QSO J0005-0006 | 2010 | [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] | |
First Large Quasar Group discovered | Webster LQG (LQG 1) | 1982 | [21] [22] | |
Title | Quasar | Data | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Brightest | 3C 273 | Apparent magnitude of ~12.9 | Absolute magnitude: −26.7 |
Seemingly optically brightest | APM 08279+5255 | Seeming absolute magnitude of −32.2 | This quasar is gravitationally lensed; its actual absolute magnitude is estimated to be −30.5 |
Most luminous | SMSS J215728.21-360215.1 | Absolute magnitude of −32.36 | Highest absolute magnitude discovered thus far. |
Most powerful quasar radio source | 3C 273 | Also the most powerful radio source in the sky | |
Most powerful | SMSS J215728.21-360215.1 | ||
Most variable quasar radio source | QSO J1819+3845 (Q1817+387) | Also the most variable extrasolar radio source | |
Least variable quasar radio source | |||
Most variable quasar optical source | |||
Least variable quasar optical source | |||
Most distant | UHZ1 | z = 10.1 | Most distant quasar known as of 2023 [47] |
Most distant radio-quiet quasar | |||
Most distant radio-loud quasar | QSO J1427+3312 | z = 6.12 | Found June 2008 [48] [49] |
Most distant blazar quasar | PSO J0309+27 | z > 6 | |
Least distant | Markarian 231 | 600 Mly | [50] inactive: IC 2497 |
Largest Large Quasar Group | Huge-LQG (U1.27) | 73 quasars | [23] [24] |
Fastest Growing Quasar | SMSS J052915.80–435152.0 (QSO J0529-4351) | ~ 413 solar masses per year (using standard radiative efficiency); ~ 370 solar masses per year (using best-fit slim disc model) | [51] [52] |
Rank | Quasar | Date of discovery | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 3C 273 | 1963 | [53] |
2 | 3C 48 | 1963 | [53] |
3 | 3C 47 | 1964 | [53] |
3 | 3C 147 | 1964 | [53] |
5 | CTA 102 | 1965 | [54] |
5 | 3C 287 | 1965 | [54] |
5 | 3C 254 | 1965 | [54] |
5 | 3C 245 | 1965 | [54] |
5 | 3C 9 | 1965 | [54] |
These are the first quasars which were found and had their redshifts determined. |
In 1964 a quasar became the most distant object in the universe for the first time. Quasars would remain the most distant objects in the universe until 1997, when a pair of non-quasar galaxies would take the title (galaxies CL 1358+62 G1 & CL 1358+62 G2 lensed by galaxy cluster CL 1358+62). [55]
In cosmic scales distance is usually indicated by redshift (denoted by z) which is a measure of recessional velocity and inferred distance due to cosmological expansion.
Type | Quasar | Date | Distance | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Most distant | UHZ1 | 2023 | z = 10.2 | [75] |
Most distant radio loud quasar | QSO B1425+3326 / QSO J1427+3312 | 2008 | z = 6.12 | |
Most distant radio quiet quasar | ||||
Most distant OVV quasar | ||||
Quasar | Date | Distance | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
UHZ1 | 2023– | z = 10.2 | Current distance record holder [75] |
QSO J0313−1806 | 2021–2023 | z = 7.64 | [57] [75] |
ULAS J1342+0928 | 2017–2021 | z = 7.54 | [76] |
ULAS J1120+0641 | 2011–2017 | z = 7.085 | Not the most distant object when discovered. First quasar with z > 7. [58] |
CFHQS J2329-0301 (CFHQS J232908-030158) | 2007–2011 | z = 6.43 | Not the most distant object when discovered. It did not exceed IOK-1 (z = 6.96), which was discovered in 2006. [59] [60] [61] [62] [77] [78] [79] |
SDSS J114816.64+525150.3 (SDSS J1148+5251) | 2003–2007 | z = 6.419 | Not the most distant object when discovered. It did not exceed HCM 6A galaxy lensed by Abell 370 at z = 6.56, discovered in 2002. Also discovered around the time of discovery was a new most distant galaxy, SDF J132418.3+271455 at z = 6.58. [63] [64] [65] [62] [77] [80] [81] [82] [83] [84] |
SDSS J1030+0524 (SDSSp J103027.10+052455.0) | 2001–2003 | z = 6.28 | Most distant object when discovered. First object with z > 6. [68] [66] [69] [70] [72] [73] |
SDSS 1044-0125 (SDSSp J104433.04-012502.2) | 2000–2001 | z = 5.82 | Most distant object when discovered. It exceeded galaxy SSA22-HCM1 (z = 5.74; discovered in 1999) as the most distant object. [85] [86] [72] [73] [77] [87] [88] |
RD300 (RD J030117+002025) | 2000 | z = 5.50 | Not the most distant object when discovered. It did not surpass galaxy SSA22-HCM1 (z = 5.74; discovered in 1999). [89] [90] [86] [91] [77] |
SDSSp J120441.73−002149.6 (SDSS J1204-0021) | 2000 | z = 5.03 | Not the most distant object when discovered. It did not surpass galaxy SSA22-HCM1 (z = 5.74; discovered in 1999). [91] [77] |
SDSSp J033829.31+002156.3 (QSO J0338+0021) | 1998–2000 | z = 5.00 | First quasar discovered with z > 5. Not the most distant object when discovered. It did not surpass galaxy BR1202-0725 LAE (z = 5.64; discovered earlier in 1998). [77] [85] [92] [93] [94] [95] [96] |
PC 1247+3406 | 1991–1998 | z = 4.897 | Most distant object when discovered. [85] [97] [98] [99] [100] |
PC 1158+4635 | 1989–1991 | z = 4.73 | Most distant object when discovered. [85] [100] [101] [102] [103] [104] |
Q0051-279 | 1987–1989 | z = 4.43 | Most distant object when discovered. [105] [101] [104] [106] [107] [108] |
Q0000-26 (QSO B0000-26) | 1987 | z = 4.11 | Most distant object when discovered. [105] [101] [109] |
PC 0910+5625 (QSO B0910+5625) | 1987 | z = 4.04 | Most distant object when discovered; second quasar with z > 4. [85] [101] [110] [111] |
Q0046–293 (QSO J0048-2903) | 1987 | z = 4.01 | Most distant object when discovered; first quasar with z > 4. [105] [101] [110] [112] [113] |
Q1208+1011 (QSO B1208+1011) | 1986–1987 | z = 3.80 | Most distant object when discovered and a gravitationally-lensed double-image quasar. From the time of discovery to 1991, had the least angular separation between images, 0.45″. [110] [114] [115] |
PKS 2000-330 (QSO J2003-3251, Q2000-330) | 1982–1986 | z = 3.78 | Most distant object when discovered. [33] [110] [116] [117] |
OQ172 (QSO B1442+101) | 1974–1982 | z = 3.53 | Most distant object when discovered. [118] [119] [120] |
OH471 (QSO B0642+449) | 1973–1974 | z = 3.408 | Most distant object when discovered; first quasar with z > 3. Nicknamed "the blaze marking the edge of the universe". [118] [120] [121] [122] [123] |
4C 05.34 | 1970–1973 | z = 2.877 | Most distant object when discovered. The redshift was so much greater than the previous record that it was believed to be erroneous, or spurious. [33] [34] [120] [124] [125] |
5C 02.56 (7C 105517.75+495540.95) | 1968–1970 | z = 2.399 | Most distant object when discovered. [125] [126] [55] |
4C 25.05 (4C 25.5) | 1968 | z = 2.358 | Most distant object when discovered. [125] [55] [127] |
PKS 0237-23 (QSO B0237-2321) | 1967–1968 | z = 2.225 | Most distant object when discovered. [33] [127] [128] [129] [130] |
4C 12.39 (Q1116+12, PKS 1116+12) | 1966–1967 | z = 2.1291 | Most distant object when discovered. [55] [130] [131] [132] |
4C 01.02 (Q0106+01, PKS 0106+1) | 1965–1966 | z = 2.0990 | Most distant object when discovered. [55] [130] [131] [133] |
3C 9 | 1965 | z = 2.018 | Most distant object when discovered; first quasar with z > 2. [2] [35] [130] [134] [135] [136] |
3C 147 | 1964–1965 | z = 0.545 | First quasar to become the most distant object in the universe, beating radio galaxy 3C 295. [137] [138] [139] [140] |
3C 48 | 1963–1964 | z = 0.367 | Second quasar redshift measured. Redshift was discovered after publication of 3C273's results prompted researchers to re-examine spectroscopic data. Not the most distant object when discovered. The radio galaxy 3C 295 was found in 1960 with z = 0.461. [27] [33] [141] [142] [143] [53] [137] |
3C 273 | 1963 | z = 0.158 | First quasar redshift measured. Not the most distant object when discovered. The radio galaxy 3C 295 was found in 1960 with z = 0.461. [27] [53] [142] [143] [144] |
Rank | Quasar | Data | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1 | SMSS J215728.21-360215.1 | It has an intrinsic bolometric luminosity of ~ 6.9 × 1014 Suns or ~ 2.6 × 1041 watts | [145] |
2 | HS 1946+7658 | It has an intrinsic bolometric luminosity in excess of 1014 Suns or 1041 watts | [146] [147] |
3 | SDSS J155152.46+191104.0 | Has over 1041 watts luminosity | [148] [149] |
4 | HS 1700+6416 | Has a luminosity of over 1041 watts | [150] |
5 | SDSS J010013.02+280225.8 | Has a luminosity of around 1.62 × 1041 watts | [151] |
6 | SBS 1425+606 | Has a luminosity of over 1041 watts – optically brightest for z>3 | [152] |
J1144-4308 | Has a luminosity of 4.7 x 1040 watts or M_i(z=2) = -29.74 mag, optically brightest in last 9 Gyr | [153] | |
SDSS J074521.78+473436.2 | [154] [155] | ||
S5 0014+813 | [150] [156] | ||
SDSS J160455.39+381201.6 | z = 2.51, M(i) = 15.84 | ||
SDSS J085543.40-001517.7 | [157] | ||
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.
In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation. The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and increase in frequency and energy, is known as a blueshift, or negative redshift. The terms derive from the colours red and blue which form the extremes of the visible light spectrum. The main causes of electromagnetic redshift in astronomy and cosmology are the relative motions of radiation sources, which give rise to the relativistic Doppler effect, and gravitational potentials, which gravitationally redshift escaping radiation. All sufficiently distant light sources show cosmological redshift corresponding to recession speeds proportional to their distances from Earth, a fact known as Hubble's law that implies the universe is expanding.
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.
In the fields of Big Bang theory and cosmology, reionization is the process that caused electrically neutral atoms in the universe to reionize after the lapse of the "dark ages".
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.
The Twin Quasar, was discovered in 1979 and was the first identified gravitationally lensed double quasar, not to be confused with the first detection of light deflection in 1919. It is a quasar that appears as two images, a result from gravitational lensing.
Redshift quantization, also referred to as redshift periodicity, redshift discretization, preferred redshifts and redshift-magnitude bands, is the hypothesis that the redshifts of cosmologically distant objects tend to cluster around multiples of some particular value.
In astronomy, a Lyman-alpha blob (LAB) is a huge concentration of a gas emitting the Lyman-alpha emission line. LABs are some of the largest known individual objects in the Universe. Some of these gaseous structures are more than 400,000 light years across. So far they have only been found in the high-redshift universe because of the ultraviolet nature of the Lyman-alpha emission line. Since Earth's atmosphere is very effective at filtering out UV photons, the Lyman-alpha photons must be redshifted in order to be transmitted through the atmosphere.
APM 08279+5255 is a very distant, broad absorption line quasar located in the constellation Lynx. It is magnified and split into multiple images by the gravitational lensing effect of a foreground galaxy through which its light passes. It appears to be a giant elliptical galaxy with a supermassive black hole and associated accretion disk. It possesses large regions of hot dust and molecular gas, as well as regions with starburst activity.
NGC 7319 is a highly distorted barred spiral galaxy that is a member of the compact Stephan's Quintet group located in the constellation Pegasus, some 311 megalight-years distant from the Milky Way. It was discovered on 27 September 1873 by French astronomer Édouard Stephan.
CLASS B1359+154 is a quasar, or quasi-stellar object, that has a redshift of 3.235. A group of three foreground galaxies at a redshift of about 1 are behaving as gravitational lenses. The result is a rare example of a sixfold multiply imaged quasar.
HCM-6A is an LAE galaxy that was found in 2002 by Esther Hu and Lennox Cowie from the University of Hawaii and Richard McMahon from the University of Cambridge, using the Keck II Telescope in Hawaii. HCM-6A is located behind the Abell 370 galactic cluster, near M77 in the constellation Cetus, which enabled the astronomers to use Abell 370 as a gravitational lens to get a clearer image of the object.
In cosmology, galaxy filaments are the largest known structures in the universe, consisting of walls of galactic superclusters. These massive, thread-like formations can commonly reach 50/h to 80/h megaparsecs —with the largest found to date being the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall at around 3 gigaparsecs (9.8 Gly) in length—and form the boundaries between voids. Due to the accelerating expansion of the universe, the individual clusters of gravitationally bound galaxies that make up galaxy filaments are moving away from each other at an accelerated rate; in the far future they will dissolve.
The Cloverleaf quasar is a bright, gravitationally lensed quasar. It receives its name because of gravitational lensing spitting the single quasar into four images.
Lyman-break galaxies are star-forming galaxies at high redshift that are selected using the differing appearance of the galaxy in several imaging filters due to the position of the Lyman limit. The technique has primarily been used to select galaxies at redshifts of z = 3–4 using ultraviolet and optical filters, but progress in ultraviolet astronomy and in infrared astronomy has allowed the use of this technique at lower and higher redshifts using ultraviolet and near-infrared filters.
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