A Quasar's Identity May Simply Be In The Eye Of The Beholder

Chandra_158_1024

chandra_158 May 29th, 2001

Credit: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss

This illustration demonstrates the different points-of-view from which astronomers may be observing quasars. About 10 percent of quasars appear to absorb a great deal of their own radiation, including low-energy X-rays. Chandra shows that these "shrouded" quasars appear this way because they are oriented so astronomers are looking through an obscuring "donut" of gas and dust. "Normal" quasars may simply be those where an astronomer's view is not blocked by this torus of material.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/qso/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html

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Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Artwork
Object Name
BALQSO Survey
Chandra_158_1280
×
ID
158
Subject Category
Subject Name
BALQSO Survey
Credits
NASA/CXC/M.Weiss
Release Date
2001-05-29
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/qso/
Type
Artwork
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Instrument
Color Assignment
Band
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Chandra X-ray Observatory
URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu
Name
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Email
cxcpub@cfa.harvard.edu
Telephone
617.496.7941
Address
60 Garden St.
City
Cambridge
State/Province
MA
Postal Code
02138
Country
USA
Rights
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
Publisher
Chandra X-Ray Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
qso_illustration.tif
Resource URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/qso/qso_illustration.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2011-07-27
Metadata Version
1.2
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