Comment on Gott and Gunn's solution of double quasars.
Abstract
The explanation proposed by Gott and Gunn (1974) for the double quasar 1548+115 is examined and shown to be incorrect. It was proposed that gravitational-lens brightening of a distant faint quasar by a nearby quasar acting as a lens would allow the observation of the distant quasar in the vicinity of the nearby one. The error in this explanation is shown to result from not considering the fact that when a quasar acts as a lens on a second quasar, the latter must be much closer to the former than is the case with 1548+115. It is suggested that the double quasar may actually be an optically resolvable triple quasar produced by a giant galaxy which would be invisible due to the brightness of the quasar at its center.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- June 1975
- DOI:
- 10.1086/181811
- Bibcode:
- 1975ApJ...198L..61B
- Keywords:
-
- Astronomical Models;
- Gravitational Effects;
- Quasars;
- Galactic Nuclei;
- Galactic Radiation;
- Radiant Flux Density;
- Radio Astronomy;
- Red Shift;
- Astrophysics