Astrophotography by Anthony Ayiomamitis

Quasar Image Gallery

Quasars or quasi-stellar radio source are sources of electromagnetic energy which are characterized with high red shifts, thus leading scientists to conclude that not only they are moving away but are also at a great distance from us. Of the over 100,000 quasars identified to-date, the greatest proportion are over one billion light-years away (the closest quasar identified to-date is 780 million light-years away whereas the most distant quasar discovered so far is 13 billion light-years away). As a result, quasars represent entities from the universe's distant past.

Given their visibility (generally as point sources of light), it follows they must be associated with tremendous amounts of energy which is only exceeded in intensity by supernovae and gamma-ray bursts. Some examples of quasars also involve the centers of (active) galaxies and which has led to the suggestion that supermassive black holes at the galaxy center and the consequent accretion of material must fuel these quasars. The rapid change in luminosity observed for some quasars also suggests they must be relatively small entities.

Note: Quasar Mrk 876 in the constellation of Draco lies at a distance of approximately 1.582 billion light-years away with a visual magnitude of 15.49 and, as a result, is within reach of large-aperture amateur equipment! With a redshift of 0.129, this bright but highly red-shifted quasar is receeding away from us at 12.1% the speed of light (ie. 16,197 km/sec)!

Please click on the image below to display in higher resolution (1200 x 900)

Image Details
Mrk 876 - Quasar in Draco
Imaging Details
3C Number:
N/A

Common Name(s):
Markarian 876

Other Designations:
QSO 1613+6550

Object Type:
Quasar

Object Classif:
Sy1.0

Constellation:
Draco

RA / Dec:
16h 13m 57s /
65° 43' 10"


Distance:
1.582 billion ly

Object Size:
N/A

Magnitude:
15.49
Date:
May 01, 2008
02:45 - 03:20 UT+3


Location:
Athens, Greece

Equipment:
AP 160 f/7.5 StarFire EDF
AP 1200GTO GEM
SBIG ST-2000XM
SBIG CFW10
SBIG LRGB + IR-block


Integrations:
Lum :  30 min (10 x 3 min)
Red :  N/A
Green :  N/A
Blue :  N/A
Dark :  45 min (15 x 3 min)
Flat :  ~ 18,500 ADU
Binning :  1x1 (Lum),  1x1 (RGB)

Temperatures:
Ambient : + 15.0 ° C
CCD Chip : - 15.0 ° C

Software:
CCDSoft V5.00.188
AIP4Win V2.2
Photoshop CS2