Microlensing Variability of the Gravitationally Lensed Quasar Q0957+561 A,B

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

94

Galaxies: Photometry, Cosmology: Gravitational Lensing, Galaxies: Quasars: Individual Alphanumeric: 0957+561

Scientific paper

The brightness of the two image components of the first discovered gravitational lens, Q0957 + 561 A,B has been monitored nightly for three years, and occasionally over the 15 years since its discovery in 1979. Historical data give a record back to 1903, so the brightness has been sampled on timescales from 1 day to 90 years. Large amplitude microlensing predicted for an unresolved source has not been observed. Instead, we find microlensing to be limited to 0.3 mag on the longest timescales, and 0.05 mag on timescales of months. We interpret the low amplitude of the observed long-term microlensing in terms of a statistical theory and conclude that the quasar has a luminous source 6 times larger than the Einstein ring for a half-solar mass microlens, or a quasar luminous source size of 0.3 light years. We discuss some implications of the more rapid microlensing features also observed.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Microlensing Variability of the Gravitationally Lensed Quasar Q0957+561 A,B does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Microlensing Variability of the Gravitationally Lensed Quasar Q0957+561 A,B, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Microlensing Variability of the Gravitationally Lensed Quasar Q0957+561 A,B will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1304836

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.