Active Galaxy NGC 3079 and the Double Quasar

About this Image

The active galaxy NGC 3079 in UMA in approx. 50 million light years distance has got special attention due to its huge bubble of gas that bursts off the galactic plane, checkout the HST report: here.

A second very interesting object in the top right part of this image is the lensed Quasar Q0957+561, the first example of a gravitationally lensed object.
In the optical light, Q0957+561 appears as two point images of roughly 17 mag, separated by 6.1". The strong X-ray radiation is transferred by the strong redshift to UV and blue, so being responsible for the blueish color.
The spectra of the two quasars reveal both redshifts to be at z = 1.41, corresponding to a distance of approx 8 billion light years.
The lensing galaxy at z = 0.36, just visible in the HST image is part of a galaxy cluster, being responsible for the big separation.
Especially remarkable detailed observations indicated that the 2 light curves are shifted in time by about 417 days relative to each other!
Another example of a multiple lensed Quasar is the Einstein Cross.

References: 1, 2, 3, 4.

North is up right.
Below you see a crop on NGC 3079 in 40/80% size.

Even below you find a crop on the Double Quasar in 80% size with a Hubble image insert showing the faint lensing galaxy.