Radio Galaxy Zoo Talk

ARG0000hfa: host a z 4.623 QSO with green outflow?

  • JeanTate by JeanTate

    Radio-wise, it's a boring faint compact source. However, the host seems to be a QSO, zsp 4.623 SDSS J123237.49+520343.8, with a nearby green blob:

    enter image description here

    Posted

  • NGC3314 by NGC3314

    We have more information - Alexei Moiseev got a spectrum with the 6-meter telescope. Despite his complaint about poor conditions, it shows the superimposed narrow emission lines of a star-forming galaxy at z=0.274 to the blue of the double-peaked Lyman-alpha emission from the quasar. So this is a superposition - where the quasar line of sight passes close enough to the foreground galaxy to make me wonder whether lensing might pay a role in amplifying the quasar brightness.

    I forgot how high the quasar redshift was when first looking at the spectrum, and had to slowly drag myself to the right iterpretation by ruling out everything else the broad line could be if no others appear.

    Posted

  • JeanTate by JeanTate in response to NGC3314's comment.

    Thanks very much, NGC3314! And Alexei Moiseev too! 😃

    If the foreground galaxy (is it a Green Pea?) may be lensing the background quasar optically, perhaps it's doing the same in the radio? I wonder if it's in the VLASS footprint?

    Any idea why the Lyman-alpha is double peaked? Could this system be used to explore the IGM environment around the foreground galaxy, via absorption lines in the QSO's spectrum?

    Posted