Active galaxy, BL Lac, unusually bright

[JeremyS]

The very distance active galaxy, BL Lac, is now brighter than at any time in the last 30 years, at mag 11.9.

BAA Forum post here.

Astronomers Telegram here

Great opportunity to see an object with a red shift of z = 0.07, corresponding to a recession velocity of 21,000 km/s with respect to the Milky Way. The redshift figure implies that the object lies at a distance of 900 million light years. The activity in this galaxy is thought to result from relativistic beaming of emission from a jet of plasma ejected from the vicinity of a supermassive black hole.

When first discovered it was thought to be a variable star, hence its VS name. It appears as a star like point source. Chart here.

Edited August 7, 2021 by JeremyS