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A QSO in a rich, distant cluster of galaxies

Abstract

We have previously remarked1 that there are no confirmed cases of quasistellar objects (QSOs) that are members of rich clusters of galaxies. Several candidates exist (cited in ref. 1), but all suffer from defects. In some of these cases, the linear dimensions may be more appropriate for superclusters than clusters (an interesting result nonetheless), and in other cases only the QSO members of the putative clusters are visible, and the normal galaxies are inferred but not observed. A particularly direct confirmation that QSOs share the same clustering characteristics as other constituents of the Universe would come from the detection of a ‘classical’ (for example, point-like, high luminosity) QSO in a previously studied, distant rich cluster of visible galaxies. Here we report such a discovery.

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Margon, B., Downes, R. & Spinrad, H. A QSO in a rich, distant cluster of galaxies. Nature 301, 221–222 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/301221a0

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