Z 229-15 is a ring galaxy in the constellation Lyra.[1] It is around 390 million light-years from Earth. It has been referred to by NASA and other space agencies as hosting an active galactic nucleus, a quasar, and a Seyfert galaxy, each of which overlap in some way.
| Z 229-15 | |
|---|---|
 Z 229-15, as photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope | |
| Observation data (Epoch J2000) | |
| Constellation | Lyra |
| Right ascension | 19 5 25.87 |
| Declination | 42° 27' 41.22" |
| Redshift | 0.027879 |
| Distance | 390 million |
| Type | Sy1 |
| Notable features | Seyfert galaxy containing a quasar |
| Other designations | |
| PGC 62756, CGCG 229-015, KIC 006932990, 2PBC J1905.3+4232 | |
| See also: Quasar, List of quasars | |
Z 229-15 was first discovered by astronomer, D. Proust from the Meudon Observatory in 1990. According to Proust, he described the object as a possible obscured spiral galaxy featuring strong signs of absorption. Additionally, Z 229-15 was also observed through the 1.93-m telescope taken at Observatorie de Haute-Provence.[2]
Z 229-15's classification has been up for speculation for many years. Z 229-15 has been widely called a quasar, and if this is true would make Z 229-15 positively local. Many space agencies, notably NASA, have called it a Seyfert galaxy that contains a quasar, and that, by definition, hosts an active galactic nuclei. This would make Z 229-15 a very uncommon galaxy in scientific terms.[3]
Z 229-15 has a supermassive black hole at its core.[4][5] The mass of the black hole is solar masses.[6] The interstellar matter in Z 229-15 gets so hot that it releases a large amount of energy across the electromagnetic spectrum on a regular basis.[7]
References
edit- ^ Stefanie Waldek (2023-03-29). "Hubble telescope spies mysterious celestial object that defies classification". Space.com. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
- ^ Proust, D. (1990-11-01). "Zwicky 229-15". International Astronomical Union Circular (5134): 2. Bibcode:1990IAUC.5134....2P. ISSN 0081-0304.
- ^ information@eso.org. "Everything, in one place, all at once". www.esahubble.org. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
- ^ Lazaro, Enrico de (2023-03-27). "Hubble Space Telescope Spots Very Luminous Seyfert Galaxy | Sci.News". Sci.News: Breaking Science News. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
- ^ Barth, Aaron J.; Nguyen, My L.; Malkan, Matthew A.; Filippenko, Alexei V.; Li, Weidong; Gorjian, Varoujan; Joner, Michael D.; Bennert, Vardha Nicola; Botyanszki, Janos; Cenko, S. Bradley; Childress, Michael; Choi, Jieun; Comerford, Julia M.; Cucciara, Antonino; da Silva, Robert (2011-05-01). "Broad-line Reverberation in the Kepler-field Seyfert Galaxy Zw 229-015". The Astrophysical Journal. 732 (2): 121. arXiv:1103.2153. Bibcode:2011ApJ...732..121B. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/732/2/121. ISSN 0004-637X.
- ^ Williams, Peter R.; Pancoast, Anna; Treu, Tommaso; Brewer, Brendon J.; Barth, Aaron J.; Bennert, Vardha N.; Buehler, Tabitha; Canalizo, Gabriela; Cenko, S. Bradley; Clubb, Kelsey I.; Cooper, Michael C.; Filippenko, Alexei V.; Gates, Elinor; Hoenig, Sebastian F.; Joner, Michael D. (2018-10-01). "The Lick AGN Monitoring Project 2011: Dynamical Modeling of the Broad-line Region". The Astrophysical Journal. 866 (2): 75. arXiv:1809.05113. Bibcode:2018ApJ...866...75W. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aae086. ISSN 0004-637X.
- ^ "Hubble Views an Intriguing Active Galaxy". science.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-21.