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Unusual radio source MG1131+0456: a possible Einstein ring

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Abstract

We report the discovery of extremely unusual structure in the radio source MG1131 + 0456. In a radio map with sub~arc$econd resolution the object appears as an elliptical ring of emission accompanied by a pair of more compact sources, nearly diametrically opposed and offset ∼0.3 arc s to the south-west of the ring. There is a faint, slightly extended, optical counterpart. In its spectrum we detect a continuum but no emission lines; therefore the redshift of the counterpart is unknown. The radio morphology suggests that this source may be an example of an 'Einstein ring'1, a highly symmetric case of grayitational lensing in which the source is imaged into a ring. Other explanations that we consider are excluded by the data. Another possibility is that MG1131 +0456 represents a new type of (unlensed) astronomical object.

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Author notes

  1. G. I. Langston

    Present address: Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hugel 69, D-5300, Bonn, 1, FRG

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Haystack Observatory, NEROC, Westford, Massachusetts, 01886, USA

    J. N. Hewitt

  2. Princeton University Observatory, Peyton Hall, Princeton, New Jersey, 08544, USA

    E. L. Turner

  3. School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, 08540, USA

    D. P. Schneider

  4. Department of Physics and Research Laboratory for Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Room 26-331, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA

    B. F. Burke & G. I. Langston

  5. California Institute of Technology, Mail Stop 105–24, Pasadena, California, 91125, USA

    C. R. Lawrence

Authors
  1. J. N. Hewitt
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  2. E. L. Turner
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  3. D. P. Schneider
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  4. B. F. Burke
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  5. G. I. Langston
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  6. C. R. Lawrence
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Hewitt, J., Turner, E., Schneider, D. et al. Unusual radio source MG1131+0456: a possible Einstein ring. Nature 333, 537–540 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/333537a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/333537a0

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