Spotting a spring quasar: 3C 273

[John]

Here's a good springtime challenge - spot the quasar 3C 273 in the "bowl" of Virgo.

It's only going to appear as a very faint point of light but it's one of these targets that becomes a bit special when you know a little about it. 3C 273 is visually the brightest quasar in the sky. It lies around 2.4 billion light years from us so for some it may just be the most distant object that they have ever observed. The host galaxy is thought to also be the home to a massive black hole. 

The trick is to identify which faint speck of light is the quasar. Astronomy Now magazine put a good piece on this target on their website back in spring 2019, and it includes finder charts and other useful and interesting information:

Seek out 3C 273, the brightest optical quasar, in the spring sky – Astronomy Now

I have seen 3C 273 with my 12 inch dobsonian back in 2021 but currently my largest aperture scope is 130mm so I will have to see if I can tease it out of the sky with that. I will wait for a darkish night I think !

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have spotted it quite easily with my C8. At magnitude 12.9 it should just be doable in a 130mm scope

[Captain Scarlet]

Excellent addition to my Spring List - thanks. Should be readily doable on the right night with my 140.

M

[Nik271]

I've only seen it with my 180mm Mak, trying it with the smaller 120mm Mak might be pushing it a little. When observing the Eskimo nebula recently I saw a nearby  12.7 magnitide star with my small Mak which is 5 years old and has two mirror surfaces which (I hope) were at 95% reflexivity when new and a corrector plate.  So I expect a 130mm refractor should have no problem on a 13 magnitude object as long as the transparency is good.

Oops forgot the quasar is a bit further south, gets  to at  most 40 degrees in altitude from the UK. This will make it tricky with smaller apertures.

Definitely a fun one to try!

 

Edited March 7 by Nik271

[John]

I rather optimistically had a bash as this one with my Tak 100mm tonight 🙄

The transparency is not too good so that did not help. I managed to get down to magnitude 12.6 stars near the location of 3C-273 but I really needed to be able to go half a magnitude fainter to be in with a chance of spotting the quasar.

It was good to remind myself of the star patterns in that part of Virgo though, for the next time I try. On a slightly better night with the 120mm refractor I think I'm in with a chance 🙂

Edited March 16 by John

[lunator]

Hi John

I am going to give this a try if we have some clear skies when the Moon is not in the sky. 

Cheers

Ian

[DirkSteele]

I did this with my 11" years ago. I recall ticking off the stars one by one until I was sure I had it.  Should try with something smaller like the 130mm.   Better go somewhere darker than London zone 1 though!