Quasar PG 1634+706 (8.6 Billion Light Years)

[davhei]

7 hours ago, John said:

Thanks to this thread and the reports / charts posted I've been able to spot PG 1634+706 with my 12 dob tonight. Thanks very much folks

It's very, very faint indeed. I've found around 400x magnification and a combination of slightly averted vision and the "1000 yard stare" has helped this dim point of light show against the background sky. 8.6 billion light years - wow !!!

Those photons have been travelling for nearly 2/3rds of the age of the universe .....

 

Very, very faint with slightly averted vision and the 1000-yard stare, sums up how I felt exactly! ?

Well done spotting it!

Edited March 29, 2019 by davhei

[Prolifics]

It's a bit mind blowing 2 billion light years  I can't even imagine it.

[davhei]

PG 1634+706 revisited:

Observed this object back in 2019 from my regular dark site and wrote a report a few posts further back.

This year I packed my 10” dob into my car and took the ferry down to the island of Gotland in the middle of the Baltic Sea. Rented a room up on Fårö (a favourite of Ingmar Bergman’s) and set up for a few days of dark sky observing.

Given my last try on PG 1634+706 which was a strain to say the least I was almost apprehensive. Will I really be able to see it? And if not, did I REALLY see it the last time or was it just wishful thinking? It was really on my limit then, so much so that I wasn’t entirely certain I actually saw it.

Waited until close to 1 a.m. with the sun -17 degrees and started star hopping. Switched up to x267, about 1 mm exit pupil and was almost stunned at how readily visible it was. What a difference to how I remember it!

Switched down to x200 which was almost better with the stars a tad sharper and easier to pick out. Using an AAVSO chart I estimated it at mag 14.4 and could even pick out a mag 15.0 star for comparison without too much effort. Limiting magnitude was probably a bit deeper still. 

Was really thrilled and spent some time pondering the vast scale of it all. Remains the object with the highest redshift (z=1.337) I have yet observed.

Can’t beat a good dark sky!

Edited August 13, 2021 by davhei

[Littleguy80]

3 hours ago, davhei said:

PG 1634+706 revisited:

Observed this object back in 2019 from my regular dark site and wrote a report a few posts further back.

This year I packed my 10” dob into my car and took the ferry down to the island of Gotland in the middle of the Baltic Sea. Rented a room up on Fårö (a favourite of Ingmar Bergman’s) and set up for a few days of dark sky observing.

Given my last try on PG 1634+706 which was a strain to say the least I was almost apprehensive. Will I really be able to see it? And if not, did I REALLY see it the last time or was it just wishful thinking? It was really on my limit then, so much so that I wasn’t entirely certain I actually saw it.

Waited until close to 1 a.m. with the sun -17 degrees and started star hopping. Switched up to x267, about 1 mm exit pupil and was almost stunned at how readily visible it was. What a difference to how I remember it!

Switched down to x200 which was almost better with the stars a tad sharper and easier to pick out. Using an AAVSO chart I estimated it at mag 14.4 and could even pick out a mag 15.0 star for comparison without too much effort. Limiting magnitude was probably a bit deeper still. 

Was really thrilled and spent some time pondering the vast scale of it all. Remains the object with the highest redshift (z=1.337) I have yet observed.

Can’t beat a good dark sky!

Excellent report. Glad you got to see it again. Mag 15 stars in a 10” is really impressive!

[skyhog]

Great report and something that has always interested me since I first observed 3C 273 many years ago with an 8 inch scope. These objects are relatively easy to image but to sit at the eyepiece and comprehend what you are actually looking at as those photons hit your retina is, to me, exhilarating. What this hobby is all about..