PGC 69457 and Einstein's Cross (Gary Imm)

PGC 69457 and Einstein's Cross

Einstein’s Cross is a gravitationally lensed quasar that is located exactly behind a closer galaxy. It is located in the constellation of Pegasus at a declination of +3 degrees.

This is my fourth attempt at imaging this object. It is the first one that I have posted. While not a success, it is at least not a complete failure like my other 3 attempts.

The spiral galaxy, PGC 69457, is located 540 million light years away. It is 1 arc-minute in width and is large, at 170,000 light years in diameter. This galaxy is sometimes referred to as Huchra’s Lens. This object was discovered by John Huchra in 1985.

The quasar, QSO J2240+0321, is located about 10 billion light years away. As shown in the mouseover image from the ESO Very Large Telescope, the quasar is lensed into four images (the “cross”) plus a dim one in the center.

As the light of the quasar passes by the foreground galaxy towards us, the galaxy acts like a lens to show us multiple images of the same background quasar. I find it interesting that the lensing result is a series of dots and not a ring or arc. I have read the explanations for this but I still don’t understand it. The cross, with a dimension of 1.6 × 1.6 arcseconds, is named after Einstein in honor of his prediction of this light bending effect in his theory of General Relativity.

While I was hoping to see the individual lensed dots in my image, I think I can at least see the outline of a cross.

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Description: Comparison to ESO VLT Image

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	4993311
PixInsight job	6UHT12NRK4R1CJBGDWDLW8WZ3TFQYAKT
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	n/a

RA (center)	22h40m30s.170
RA (top/left)	22h41m10s.602
RA (top/right)	22h39m50s.927
RA (bottom/right)	22h39m49s.742
RA (bottom/left)	22h41m09s.404

Dec (center)	+03°21′34″.66
Dec (top/left)	+03°27′42″.18
Dec (top/right)	+03°28′09″.94
Dec (bottom/right)	+03°15′26″.94
Dec (bottom/left)	+03°14′59″.28

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PGC 69457 and Einstein's Cross

PGC 69457 and Einstein's Cross

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PGC 69457 and Einstein's Cross

PGC 69457 and Einstein's Cross

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