Bibcode
DOI
Winn, Joshua N.; Hewitt, Jacqueline N.; Schechter, Paul L.; Dressler, Alan; Falco, E. E.; Impey, C. D.; Kochanek, C. S.; Lehár, J.; Lovell, J. E. J.; McLeod, B. A.; Morgan, Nicholas D.; Muñoz, J. A.; Rix, H.-W.; Ruiz, Maria Teresa
Bibliographical reference
The Astronomical Journal, Volume 120, Issue 6, pp. 2868-2878.
Advertised on:
12
2000
Citations
37
Refereed citations
35
Description
We report the discovery of a new double-image quasar that was found
during a search for gravitational lenses in the southern sky. Radio
source PMN J1838-3427 is composed of two flat-spectrum components with
separation 1.0", flux density ratio 14:1, and matching spectral indices
in VLA and VLBA images. Ground-based BRI images show the optical
counterpart (total I=18.6) is also double, with the same separation and
position angle as the radio components. An HST/WFPC2 image reveals the
lens galaxy. The optical flux ratio (27:1) is higher than the radio
value, probably because of differential extinction of the components by
the lens galaxy. An optical spectrum of the bright component contains
quasar emission lines at z=2.78 and several absorption features,
including prominent Lyα absorption. The lens galaxy redshift could
not be measured, but it is estimated to be z=0.36+/-0.08. The image
configuration is consistent with the simplest plausible models for the
lens potential. The flat radio spectrum and observed variability of PMN
J1838-3427 suggest that the time delay between flux variations of the
components is measurable and could thus provide an independent
measurement of H0. Based on observations using the Very Large
Array (VLA) and Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) of the National Radio
Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (HST),
the 3.6 m telescope of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) at La
Silla, the du Pont telescope at Las Campanas Observatory (LCO), and the
Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). The NRAO is a facility of the
National Science Foundation (NSF) operated under cooperative agreement
by Associated Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., (AURA). The
HST data were obtained from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which
is operated by AURA under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. ATCA is part of the
Australia Telescope which is funded by the Commonwealth of Australia for
operation as a National Facility managed by CSIRO.