Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

A concentration of quasars in the Sculptor region of the sky

Nature volume 302, pages 397–399 (1983)Cite this article

Abstract

The strip of sky 5° wide and centred at dec −40° is the largest area of the sky which has been completely searched for quasars1. The strip is long and narrow and runs from RA≲22 h to RA≳4 h. Near the centre of the strip, at 0 h2 and Smith3 have argued that this concentration is caused by the sensitivity of the plates taken at larger and smaller right ascensions being less than those taken in 0h<RA<1 h region. In the original report of the survey, there was no note that any regions showed systematically poorer seeing or lower sky-density for a given exposure. It seems necessary to substantiate such an a posteriori hypothesis with quantitative systematic differences in the plate quality. In this report the reality of this concentration has been tested by asking whether all quasars show this concentration or only certain kinds of quasars.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Osmer, P. & Smith, M. G. Astrophys. J. Suppl. 42, 333 (1980).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Osmer, P. Astrophys. J. 247, 762 (1981).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Smith, M. in Investigating the Universe (ed. Kahn, F. D.) (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1981).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Baldwin, J. D., Burke, W. L., Gaskell, C. M. & Wampler, E.J. Nature 273, 431 (1978).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Wampler, E. J., Burke, W. L., Gaskill, C. M. & Baldwin, J. A. Astrophys. J. (submitted).

  6. Arp, H. Astrophys. J. 239, 463 (1980).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Arp, H. (in preparation).

  8. Clowes, R. G. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 197, 731 (1981).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Oort, J. H., Arp, H. & de Ruiter, H. R. Astr. Astrophys. 95, 7 (1981).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Arp, H. Astrophys. J. (submitted).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mount Wilson and Las Campanas Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Pasadena, California, 91101, USA

    Halton Arp

Authors
  1. Halton Arp
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Arp, H. A concentration of quasars in the Sculptor region of the sky. Nature 302, 397–399 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/302397a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/302397a0

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing