Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  NGC 3073  ·  NGC 3079
The Double Quasar, Derek Mellott
The Double Quasar
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The Double Quasar

The Double Quasar, Derek Mellott
The Double Quasar
Powered byPixInsight

The Double Quasar

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Description

There is nothing pretty about this image but there is something incredible to be seen. The two red lines are pointing to what is know as the Double Quasar. I went out last night and caught a few photons that have been traveling for over 7.8 billion years! When these photons were emitted our Solar System was just a dust cloud, they have been traveling for almost twice the age of our Sun. I'm only able to image this object due to gravitational lensing. Gravitational lensing is one of the predictions of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, this effect was proven in 1979 with the discovery of this object. I managed to capture this image with a mere 6" Newtonian and two 120 second photos. The Galaxy in the image is NGC3079.

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The Double Quasar, Derek Mellott