PKS 1127-145:
Chandra Scores A Double Bonus With A Distant
Quasar
The X-ray image of the quasar PKS
1127-145, a highly luminous source of X-rays and
visible light about 10 billion light years from Earth,
shows an enormous X-ray jet that extends at least a
million light years from the quasar. The jet is
likely due to the collision of a beam of high-energy
electrons with microwave photons.
The high-energy beam is thought to have been produced
by explosive activity related to gas swirling around a
supermassive black hole. The length of the jet and the
observed bright knots of X-ray emission suggest that
the explosive activity is long-lived but
intermittent.
On their way to Earth, the X-rays from the quasar pass
through a galaxy located 4 billion light years away.
Atoms of various elements in this galaxy absorb some of
the X-rays, and produce a dimming of the quasar's
X-rays, or an X-ray shadow. In a similar way, when our
body is X-rayed, our bones produce an X-ray shadow.
By measuring the amount of absorption astronomers were
able to estimate that 4 billion years ago, the gas in
the absorbing galaxy contained a much lower
concentration of oxygen relative to hydrogen gas than
does our galaxy - about 5 times lower. These
observations will give astronomers insight into how the
oxygen supply of galaxies is built up over the eons.
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Fast Facts for PKS
1127-145:
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Credit
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NASA/CXC/A.Siemiginowska(CfA)/J.Bechtold(U.Arizona)
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Scale
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Image is 60 arcsec on a side.
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Category
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Quasars & Active Galaxies
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Coordinates
(J2000)
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RA 11h 30m 7.10s | Dec -14º 49'
27" |
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Constellation
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Crater
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Observation
Date
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May 28, 2000
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Observation
Time
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7.6 hours
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Obs.
ID
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866
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Color
Code
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Intensity
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Instrument
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ACIS
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Reference
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J. Bechtold, et al. 2001, Astrophys. J. 562, 133; A. Siemiginowska et al. Astro-ph/021116
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Distance
Estimate
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10 billion light years (redshift
z = 1.187)
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Release Date
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February 06, 2002
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