QUASAR QSO 0957+561
This 17th magnitude quasar is also known as the
Double Quasar. It is, in fact, a single quasar! It's light is being
gravitationally lensed by a massive galaxy situated half-way between the quasar
and Earth, causing the
quasar image to appear twice. The discovery of this object in 1979 provided the
first direct evidence for the gravitational lensing effect predicted by
Einstein, who concluded his 1936 paper
Lens-Like Action of a Star by the Deviation of Light in
the Gravitational Field saying
"Even in the most favorable cases the length L is only a few light-seconds, and X must be small compared
with this, if an appreciable increase of the apparent brightness of A is to be produced by the lens-like
action of B.
Therefore, there is no great chance of observing this phenomenon, even if dazzling by the light of the
much nearer star B is disregarded."
That's OK Albert. I've never seen this before either.
Redshift is 1.413 (lookback time is 8.7 billion LY)
The quasar separation is only 6 arc-seconds. The full frame image is 22 X 15 arc-minutes.
Meade 14"
LX200GPS at f/5.87
SBIG ST-8XME with adaptive optics
7 X 1 minute exposure, 2X2 binning, -20C cooling, 10 Hz guiding
Wishing Star Observatory