Galaxy Zoo Talk

Bamboozled

  • bluemagi by bluemagi

    I have been trying to figure this one out. I have hit a wall.I found it on the SDSS. Its not one of ours.
    1237665357237518394 Z:1.350 QSO Broadline
    1237665357237518393 Z:0.033 Galaxy Broadline
    1237665357237518721 Z:1.560 QSO Broadline , Not involved but on photo.
    It looks as if the Quasar is overlapping a galaxy? I don't think the spectrum of the Quasar is right. It doesn't have any peaks. Reminds me more of a blue star or white dwarf. Thanks, bluemagi

    Posted

  • Budgieye by Budgieye moderator

    One yellow and one blue.Strange that the interacting pair are such different colours,

    I agree, that spectrum doesn't look like a quasar, and the redshift is far too high.

    http://skyserver.sdss.org/dr14/SkyServerWS/ImgCutout/getjpeg?TaskName=Skyserver.Chart.Image&ra=243.37575574224&dec=51.0598963520698&scale=0.1980635&width=512&height=512&opt=&query=

    http://skyserver.sdss.org/dr14/SkyServerWS/ImgCutout/getjpeg?TaskName=Skyserver.Explore.Image&ra=243.37575574224&dec=51.0598963520698&scale=0.2&width=200&height=200&opt=G

    http://skyserver.sdss.org/dr14/en/tools/explore/summary.aspx?id=1237665357237518394

    http://skyserver.sdss.org/dr14/en/get/SpecById.ashx?id=701492576099788800

    http://skyserver.sdss.org/dr14/SkyServerWS/ImgCutout/getjpeg?TaskName=Skyserver.Explore.Image&ra=243.384289413865&dec=51.0619660489652&scale=0.2&width=200&height=200&opt=G

    http://skyserver.sdss.org/dr14/en/tools/explore/Summary.aspx?id=1237665357237518393

    http://skyserver.sdss.org/dr14/en/get/SpecById.ashx?id=7111382382234542080

    Posted

  • JeanTate by JeanTate in response to bluemagi's comment.

    1237665357237518394 Z:1.350 QSO Broadline

    SDSS J161330.18+510335.6:

    enter image description here
    enter image description here

    It's not a QSO, rather most likely a local (in our own Milky Way galaxy) star, spectral class A (the absorption lines, decreasingly deep with wavelength; the continuum like a blackbody). Other interpretations? Let's hear them! 😃

    1237665357237518393 Z:0.033 Galaxy Broadline

    SDSS J161332.22+510343.0:

    enter image description here enter image description here

    OK, except for the BROADLINE part (all emission lines seem pretty narrow to me).

    1237665357237518721 Z:1.560 QSO Broadline

    SDSS J161330.83+510400.5:

    enter image description here enter image description here

    Yep.

    Hope this helps, and happy hunting! 😃

    Posted

  • bluemagi by bluemagi

    Thank you, Budgieye and Jean Tate

    Posted

  • JeanTate by JeanTate in response to JeanTate's comment.

    It's not a QSO, rather most likely a local (in our own Milky Way galaxy) star, spectral class A (the absorption lines, decreasingly deep with wavelength; the continuum like a blackbody). Other interpretations? Let's hear them! 😃

    Correction: it is indeed a very A-like spectrum, but it's certainly not from a star in our own galaxy! Why? Because it has a redshift of ~0.03! 😮

    So, what is it?

    A fading intense, and very localized, starburst. The O and B giants created in the starburst have all gone supernova, leaving the main-sequence A stars dominating the visible light. I do not know why there is no "K" (for K giant and supergiant stars) component in the spectrum; "K+A" is a typical "quenched" spectrum, what's left when a starburst has faded. Perhaps this fading starburst has been caught at a very particular time, before any "K" component becomes visible (typical K+A/quenched objects look white in SDSS images, because there's a red continuum to balance the blue "A" part).

    All in all a very interesting set of objects! 😃

    Posted

  • mlpeck by mlpeck

    The interacting pair is I Zw 136. There are HST and Spitzer images on page 1 of this discussion: https://talk.galaxyzoo.org/#/boards/BGZ0000007/discussions/DGZ0001z7q.

    Yes, the spectrum indicates a powerful starburst that was very recently shut down although the HST and Spitzer images suggest there is still considerable star formation that's well hidden.

    Posted

  • bluemagi by bluemagi

    Thanks, mlpeck. Very interesting.

    Posted

  • mlpeck by mlpeck

    repost of hst image:

    izw136co

    (my attempt at an rgb composite of 3 filter acs imagery)

    Posted

  • Ghost_Sheep_SWR by Ghost_Sheep_SWR in response to mlpeck's comment.

    here is the Hubble image from the ESA site. I wonder what the speckled little thing in the center is (near the bottom in your image).

    enter image description here

    Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt

    https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1432a/

    Posted

  • mlpeck by mlpeck in response to Ghost_Sheep_SWR's comment.

    I wonder what the speckled little thing in the center is

    A small, probably starforming, irregular galaxy I'd guess. Zoom in! Similar objects are all over the field, including a larger and brighter one near the red disk galaxy.

    Posted