NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
The Most Luminous Object in the Universe: Shrouded Quasar or Proto-GalaxyWe have used ASCA to observe the IRAS source FSC 10214+4724, which is identified with a galaxy at a redshift of 2.286. When first discovered, it was believed to be the most luminous object in the universe. Subsequent HST images have established that it is gravitationally-lensed by a foreground cluster. It is still a very powerful object, but not extraordinarily so. Observations at other wavebands have not established whether it is a dust-shrouded quasar or a young, massive galaxy in the process of formation. Since quasars are strong emitters of hard X-rays, while proto-galaxies would not be, and since the opacity of gas and dust is relatively small in the energy regime probed by ASCA (3 to 30 keV in the galaxy rest frame), we undertook these observations to search for a heavily shrouded quasar that might be invisible at lower energies. However, the observations did not detect any emission from this object. This either means that the galaxy is in fact powered by a starburst or that the putative quasar is located behind a very high column density of absorbing gas (N_H > 10(exp 25)/sq cm), so that not even hard X-rays are transmitted. A hidden quasar should be visible in reflected light in X-ray data of higher sensitivity. Observations with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory or ESA's XMM are required to settle the matter. No publication resulted from our null result.
Document ID
20000021408
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Other
Authors
Heckman, Timothy M.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Baltimore, MD United States)
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1999
Subject Category
Astronomy
Report/Patent Number
JHU-D31-2063
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-2548
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
Document Inquiry

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available