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Discovery of a bright quasar without a massive host galaxy

Author

Listed:
  • Pierre Magain

    (Université de Liège)

  • Géraldine Letawe

    (Université de Liège)

  • Frédéric Courbin

    (Laboratoire d'Astrophysique, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Observatoire)

  • Pascale Jablonka

    (Laboratoire d'Astrophysique, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Observatoire
    Observatoire de l'Université de Genève
    GEPI, UMR 8111, Observatoire de Paris)

  • Knud Jahnke

    (Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam)

  • Georges Meylan

    (Laboratoire d'Astrophysique, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Observatoire)

  • Lutz Wisotzki

    (Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam)

Abstract

A quasar on the edge Astrophysicists may be forgiven a bout of déjà vu following the discovery of a quasar that is not at the centre of a massive host galaxy. The claim that ‘naked quasars’ had been observed caused a flurry of excitement in the mid-1990s. Quasars are among the most powerful energy sources in the Universe, and their energy is thought to derive from the infall of matter into a black hole at the centre of a massive galaxy. Quasars with no galaxy to power them seemed an anachronism and on inspection ‘naked quasars’ were nothing of the sort: the host galaxies were just hidden by the extreme luminosity of the quasars. The ‘new’ quasar is not naked, but it is not wearing much. HE0450–2958 is at the edge of a large gas cloud; if it has a host galaxy it is too small to drive the quasar, which might be feeding on mass from a nearby ultraluminous infrared galaxy with which it may be interacting. This discovery could change our ideas about how these objects form and suggests that isolated supermassive black holes may exist in the Universe.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierre Magain & Géraldine Letawe & Frédéric Courbin & Pascale Jablonka & Knud Jahnke & Georges Meylan & Lutz Wisotzki, 2005. "Discovery of a bright quasar without a massive host galaxy," Nature, Nature, vol. 437(7057), pages 381-384, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:437:y:2005:i:7057:d:10.1038_nature04013
    DOI: 10.1038/nature04013
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