3C 48

3C 48
Observation data (Epoch J2000)
Constellation	Triangulum
Right ascension	01^h 37^m 41.1^s[1]
Declination	+33° 09′ 32″[1]
Redshift	110,024 ± 0 km/s[1] 0.367[1]
Distance	3.9 billion light-years (Light travel time)[1] 4.5 billion light-years (present)[1]
Type	E[2]
Apparent dimensions (V)	0.6´X0.5´
Apparent magnitude (V)	16.2
Notable features	First quasar discovered
Other designations
PG 0134+329, QSO B0134+329
See also: Quasar, List of quasars

3C48 was the first of many faint, starlike quasi-stellar objects which later were named quasars.^[3]

3C48 was the first source in the Third Cambridge Catalogue of Radio Sources for which an optical identification was found by Allan Sandage and Thomas A. Matthews in 1960 through interferometry.^[4] Jesse L. Greenstein and Thomas Matthews found that it had a redshift of 0.367, making it one of the highest redshift sources then known.^[5] It was not until 1982 that the surrounding faint galactic "nebulosity" was confirmed to have the same redshift as 3C48, cementing its identification as an object in a distant galaxy.^[6] This was also the first solid identification of a quasar with a surrounding galaxy at the same redshift.

References

1. "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for 3C 48. Retrieved 2006-10-26.
2. Simbad
3. Weaver, Kenneth F. (May 1974). "The Incredible Universe". National Geographic 145 (5): 589–633.
4. Matthews, Thomas A.; Sandage, Allan R. (1963). "Optical Identification of 3c 48, 3c 196, and 3c 286 with Stellar Objects". The Astrophysical Journal 138: 30–56. Bibcode:1963ApJ...138...30M. doi:10.1086/147615.
5. Greenstein, J. L.; Matthews, Thomas A. (1963). "Red-Shift of the Unusual Radio Source 3C48". Nature 197 (4872): 1041–1042. Bibcode:1963Natur.197.1041G. doi:10.1038/1971041a0.
6. Todd A. Boroson & Oke, J. B. (1982). "Detection of the underlying galaxy in the QSO 3C48". Nature 296 (5856): 397–399. Bibcode:1982Natur.296..397B. doi:10.1038/296397a0.