Introduction to active galaxies

# 3.3 Quasars

One of the most unexpected turns in the history of astronomy was the discovery of quasars. When first recognised, in 1963, quasars appeared at radio and optical wavelengths as faint, point-like objects with unusual optical emission spectra. The name comes from their alternative designations of 'quasi-stellar radio source' (QSR) or 'quasi-stellar object' (QSO), meaning that they resemble stars in their point-like appearance. Their spectra, however, are quite unlike those of stars. The emission lines turn out to be those of hydrogen and other elements that occur in astronomical sources, but they are significantly red-shifted.

Figure 15 shows the optical spectrum of 3C 273, which was the first quasar to be discovered (you have already seen its broadband spectrum in Figure 10). The redshift is 0.158, which corresponds to a distance of about 660 Mpc according to Hubble's law. Many other quasars are now known - a recent catalogue lists more than 7000 - and the vast majority have even greater redshifts, the record (in 2003) being more than 6. All quasars must therefore be highly luminous to be seen by us at all.

Figure 15: The optical spectrum of 3C 273, the first quasar to be discovered. The arrows show how the prominent hydrogen emission lines have been greatly red-shifted from their normal wavelengths
Kaufmann III, W.J., Galaxies and Quasars, 1979. W.H. Freeman and Company Publishers Kaufmann III, W.J., Galaxies and Quasars, 1979. W.H. Freeman and Company Publishers

The optical spectra of quasars are similar to those of Seyfert 1 galaxies, with prominent broad lines but rather weaker narrow lines. A composite spectrum for 700 quasars is shown in Figure 16. To form this spectrum, the individual quasar spectra were all corrected to remove the effect of red-shift before being added together. Because many quasars have high redshifts, many of the features that are observed in the visible part of the spectrum correspond to emission features in the ultraviolet. In particular, the spectrum shows the Lyman (Ly) line that arises from the electronic transition in atomic hydrogen from the state n = 2 to n = 1. This line, which occurs at a wavelength of 121.6 nm, is clearly a very strong and broad line in quasar spectra.

Figure 16: The mean optical spectrum of a sample of more than 700 quasars. The individual spectra were all corrected to remove the effect of red-shift before the spectra were averaged. Note the broad emission lines
Figure 16
An Introduction to Active Galactic Nuclei, Cambridge University Press An Introduction to Active Galactic Nuclei, Cambridge University Press

Quasars show spectral excesses in the infrared and at other wavelengths. About 10% of quasars are strong radio sources and are said to be radio loud. Some astronomers prefer to retain the older term QSO (quasi-stellar object) for radio-quiet quasars that are not strong sources of radio waves. The spectral energy distribution for a sample of radio-loud and a sample of radio-quiet quasars is shown in Figure 17. The big blue bump, hinted at in Figure 10, is particularly prominent here. Many quasars are also variable throughout the spectrum on timescales of months or even days.

Figure 17: Mean SEDs for a sample of radio-quiet (blue line) and radio-loud (red line) quasars. The two curves are similar except at radio wavelengths. The 'big blue bump' is particularly prominent in this diagram
Figure 17
An Introduction to Active Galactic Nuclei, Cambridge University Press An Introduction to Active Galactic Nuclei, Cambridge University Press

Detailed radio mapping shows that many of the radio-loud quasars have prominent jets which appear to be gushing material into space. In 3C 273 the jet is even visible on optical images (Figure 18).

Figure 18: Images of the nearest quasar, 3C 273. (a) An optical (V band) image shows a faint jet of material emerging from the star-like nucleus. The panels show the jet in more detail at (b) optical, (c) radio and (d) X-ray wavelengths. Note that the different colours in panels (b), (c) and (d) represent different levels of intensity. ((a), (b) Hubble Space Telescope; (c) MERLIN/Jodrell Bank Observatory; (d) Chandra X-ray Observatory)
Figure 18
NASA STScl; MERLIN; NASA/CXC/SAO/H. Marshall et al NASA STScl; MERLIN; NASA/CXC/SAO/H. Marshall et al

Because quasars are so distant, it has been difficult to study the host galaxies which contain them. Recent work seems to show that there is no simple relationship between a quasar and the morphology of its host galaxy - while many quasar host galaxies are interacting or merging systems, there are also many host galaxies that appear to be normal ellipticals or spirals (Figure 19). It has also been found that the radio-loud quasars tend to be found in elliptical and interacting galaxies whereas the radio-quiet quasars (the QSOs) seem to be present in both elliptical and spiral host galaxies. It should be stressed however that the relationship between quasar host and radio emission is not clear-cut, and that this is a topic of ongoing research.

Figure 19: Examples of quasar host galaxies as observed at optical wavelengths with the Hubble Space Telescope. Quasars seem to occur in normal and interacting galaxies. The host galaxies shown here appear to be: (a) a normal spiral galaxy, (b) a normal elliptical galaxy, and (c) to (f) interacting or merging galaxies. Note that the different colours represent different levels of intensity
Figure 19
John Bahcall (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton), Mike Disney (University of Wales) and NASA John Bahcall (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton), Mike Disney (University of Wales) and NASA

Before their host galaxies were discovered in the 1980s quasars seemed much more puzzling than they do now. Indeed, for many years, there was a school of thought that supported the idea that quasars were not at such great distances as they are now thought to be, but were instead relatively close objects in which the red-shift arose from some unknown physical process. The study of quasar host galaxies has all but dispelled this view and the modern picture of a quasar is of a remote, very luminous AGN buried in a galaxy of normal luminosity. This is why astronomers now regard quasars as a type of active galaxy, though you will still see books referring to 'active galaxies and quasars'. Quasars are believed to be the most luminous examples of AGNs known.

OpenLearn - Introduction to active galaxies
Except for third party materials and otherwise, this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence, full copyright detail can be found in the acknowledgements section. Please see full copyright statement for details.