Magain P., Surdej J., Vanderriest C., Pirenne B., Hutsemekers
Abstract
We report the discovery of a new gravitational lens candidate: the high redshift (z = 3.803) and highly luminous (V = 17.5, M_V_ = - 30.3) quasar Q 1208+1011. As derived from the analysis of direct CCD frames taken with the ESO/MPI 2.2m telescope, this multiple quasar consists of two point-like images, separated by 0.45" and characterized by a brightness ratio of 3.5, in red light. Existing spectroscopic data support the gravitational lens interpretation for this system but cannot exclude the hypothesis of a binary quasar. In the former case, the spectrum suggests that, if the metallic absorption line system reported by Steidel (1990) at a redshift z = 2.9157 is associated with the deflector, the mass of the lens should be of the order of M = 7.8 10^11^M_sun_(q_0_ = 0, H_0_ = 50 km s^-1^ Mpc^-1^). Evaluation of a recent HST PC frame obtained for Q 1208+1011 within the snapshot survey for gravitational lenses confirms the above results.
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- January 1992
- Bibcode:
- 1992A&A...253L..13M
- Keywords:
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- Binary Stars;
- Gravitational Lenses;
- Quasars;
- Imaging Spectrometers;
- Stellar Gravitation;
- Astrophysics