APM 08279 + 5255
APM 08279 + 5255 is a 12 billion light years distant Quasar in the constellation Lynx (Lynx) and an unusual example of a gravitational lens . When it was discovered in 1998, it was the brightest known object in astrophysics due to its large redshift (z = 3.87) and brightness (15.2 Mag ) .
Special properties
Dimensions
The total mass is 130 billion solar masses. With 23 billion solar masses, the quasar contains one of the most massive black holes known . This corresponds to more than 5000 times the mass of the black hole of our Milky Way ( Sagittarius A * ) in the Galactic Center .
Gravitational lens
Observations from the Hubble Space Telescope reveal three distinct objects that made up APM 08279 + 5255. Careful investigations have shown that these three objects are images of one and the same quasar. This is unusual because images of gravitational lenses usually ( odd number theorem ) do not produce odd numbers, but rather an even number multiplication of the original image (approximately double or fourfold image of the object).
water
Another special feature of the quasar is that it is surrounded by a large amount of water vapor , which orbits the object and will ultimately fall into it. The amount of water observed is roughly 140 trillion times the amount of all water on earth .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ arxiv : 0809.0754 Imaging the Molecular Gas in az = 3.9 Quasar Host Galaxy at 0.3 "Resolution: A Central, Sub-Kiloparsec Scale Star Formation Reservoir in APM 08279 + 5255
- ↑ arxiv : astro-ph / 9908052 ICMOS and VLA Observations of the Gravitatonally Lensed Ultraluminous BAL Quasar APM ~ 08279 + 5255: Detection of a Third Image
- ↑ 12 billion light years away - US researchers discover gigantic water reservoir in space , Der Spiegel, July 23, 2011