Discovery of an infrared-loud quasar

The IRAS source 13349 + 2438 is a quasar with a redshift of z = 0.107, broad (15,000 km/s) emission lines and a luminosity of 2.7 x 10 to the 12th solar luminosity, emitted mostly between 4.8 and 12 microns. The object, a weak radio source, is the first previously unidentified quasar selected through its infrared emission and is the prototype radio-quiet, infrared-bright quasar. A dusty interstellar medium may be responsible for the infrared emission as well as for quenching the visual emission and attenuating the radio emission from the central energy source.