Most luminous object
- Who
- AMP08279+5255
- Where
- very deep space,
- When
- March 1998
Believed to be the most luminous object in the universe, quasar APM08279+5255 was discovered in March 1998 by a team of astronomers using the 2.5-metre Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) at La Palma in the Canary Islands. This quasar is is between 4 and 5 million billion times brighter than the Sun and is estimated to be more than 10 times brighter than any other known quasar.
Quasar means quasi-stellar object, due to the star-like appearance of these distant objects. It is only by looking at the spectrum that a quasar can be identified, due to the very high redshift.
Most astronomers believe quasars to be a type of galaxy with an energetic supermassive black hole at its centre. They appear to be so bright because the beams of energy being shot out by the black hole are pointing directly towards Earth.
Dr Geraint Lewis and colleagues examined photographs of the sky taken as part of the Palomar Sky Survey in the 1950s. They then chose star-like objects and scrutinsed them with the INT.
Most astronomers believe quasars to be a type of galaxy with an energetic supermassive black hole at its centre. They appear to be so bright because the beams of energy being shot out by the black hole are pointing directly towards Earth.
Dr Geraint Lewis and colleagues examined photographs of the sky taken as part of the Palomar Sky Survey in the 1950s. They then chose star-like objects and scrutinsed them with the INT.