My first Quasar and my most distant object

[John]

Not a great night here for DSO's due to haze / mist which appears to be rising up now obscuring most fainter objects other than in the zenith region. 

Virgo is reasonably well placed though and, until recently, mostly clear of the mist so I thought I'd have a go at observing my first Quasar with my 12" dobsonian. I figured, though faint, it would at least be a point source which should make it a little easier to pin down than the smudge of a galaxy.

The Quasar in question is known as 3C 273 and it's optically the brightest of the Quasars at magnitude 12.8. Still not a bright object though !. Fortunately there are some decent finder charts on the web and the one linked to on this web page proved really quite useful:

http://www.nightskyinfo.com/archive/3c273_quasar/

The chart gives a finder chart down to mag 8 and also a scope chart down to mag 13.5.

This annotated image helped with the final ID of 3C 273:

http://www.abmedia.com/astro/CCDMono/3C273-130EDF.html

After allowing my eyes to get properly dark adjusted, I found I could star hop to the right star field using my RDF, then my 8x50 optical finder and finally a 32mm Tele Vue plossl eyepiece to pick up the faintest stars. Once I was confident that I had the correct star field I used a 20mm TV plossl to boost the magnfication a little making the fainter stars stand out just a little bit easier. Although the Quasar was faint I did not need averted vision to see it and I could just pick out a slightly fainter star next to it which I think is magnitude 13.

Quasar 3C 273 appears just as a faint star but, like so many deep sky objects, knowing a little about it adds a lot of significance to the observing experience. I understand that the current thinking is that this object is around 2.5 billion light years from us or 640 mega parsecs. These figures seem to vary a little depending on the source you consult but I think they are in the right ball park. The information available seems to show that the Quasar is emitting 2 trillion times as much light as our sun

I enjoyed the hunt for this dim speck of light. I'll need a rather better night to find other Quasars though as I believe the next brightest are magnitude 14 or dimmer. Quasar 3C 273 may hold my distance observing record for some time !

[paul mc c]

Nice one,there is something very rewarding about finding something on the limit of what our scopes can see,and actually tracking it down,comparing charts and confirming that you have seen it.

[cotterless45]

Brilliant John, nothing beats a bit of research on what you're observing,

Nick.

[andrew63]

That's a great object to 'see' John.  What is mind boggling, is to think what was on your garden when the light you saw left that Quasar.

andrew

[John]

That's a great object to 'see' John.  What is mind boggling, is to think what was on your garden when the light you saw left that Quasar.

andrew

Good point Andrew. 2.5 billion years ago I'd just started that pond and rockery project. It will be finished this Summer I promise

[Special K]

Cool, John. That's some seriously deep sky observing!

The distances are staggering just to nearby galaxies but this is out of the ball park. That must have been pretty legendary to look at that quasar in the eyepiece. Humbling and a privilege. Congrats on that one!

[niallk]

Wow - I'll definitely have to have a go - thanks for posting details!

Just need a few clears nights here...

[faulksy]

thats brilliant john. well done fella what a challenge and you won

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice one. That was my first quasar too, spotted with my C8. My most distant one is the blazar OJ-287. This is much harder. I got it at its maximum brightness of 13.9, the furthest and faintest object I have ever spotted. It is some 3.5 billion light years away. Should be doable in your 12"

[Dave In Vermont]

I entered 3c273 into The SkyX from Software-Bisque. It found it right away and identified it as PGC 41121, and had it almost completely hidden behing a star cataloged as being HIP 60936.

This is rather curious to me. Is Software-Bisque missing the correct identity of 3c273? Any information out there? I'd love to spot the Quasar by my star-charts from Bisque. But if The SkyX is 'out-to-lunch,' I'll find a work-around.

Clear & Bright-Skies.

Dave

[John]

Nice one. That was my first quasar too, spotted with my C8. My most distant one is the blazar OJ-287. This is much harder. I got it at its maximum brightness of 13.9, the furthest and faintest object I have ever spotted. It is some 3.5 billion light years away. Should be doable in your 12"

Thanks Michael - I'll keep a note of that one for future reference

My understanding is that 3C 273 is most peoples 1st ( and sometimes only ) Quasar or Quasar-type object simply because it's the brightest. This could be a useful article for those interested in viewing such objects:

http://washedoutastronomy.com/content/fist-full-quasars

[jsmoraes]

Undoubtly two great captures: the quasar and minor planet. A very nice and sharp image. Congratulation for this work. 

[John]

Undoubtly two great captures: the quasar and minor planet. A very nice and sharp image. Congratulation for this work. 

Thanks but the image was not my work. I just used it as a finder chart to pin down the Quasar in the eyepiece.

Credit for the image should go to Chris Cook who captured it in 2009.

[Paul73]

Thanks for the post John.

I had a crack at this one last night on the back of this writeup. Really enjoyed the slightly fiddly star hop and bagging my first Quasar. Sitting back under the stars and contemplating what I had just been looking at, was a truely surreal and memorable moment.

Not a spectacular target, but hugely satisfying.

Paul

[greglloyd]

Nice one John. I must give 3C273 a try since I've never gone for a quasar before. The distances and timescales involved with these objects is mind boggling!

[beka]

Great post John, will give it a go soonest chance I get!