Quasar?

[Peek]

I'm looking at this object: 587734949117755848

Looking at the redshift (under 'z' in the section 'SpecObjID = 365300520824340480') it seems to be 0.190, which I think is quite high. And then looking at the spectrum it looks like it has a big fat spike in the right end of the spectrum.

I'm just wondering if I have understood it correctly, that this could indicate that this object is a quasar?

This only being my second post, I'd like to add that I love the idea of Galaxy Zoo and these forums are a perfect addition to the site! Keep up the good work!

[fluffyporcupine]

welcome to the zoo! can't remeber who originally posted this link but it contains typical spectrum of quasars and certain z values:
http://www.sdss.org/gallery/gal_zqso.html

[Jaina]

That particular object looks borderline for me... I can definitely see how you might think it's a quasar, but it looks a little bit too regular to me for that.  Not to mention that SDSS seems to think it's a galaxy, and often it'll say QSO instead of GALAXY if it thinks it might be a galaxy. Like in this one: 587734621637247125

Though, that one has a similar spectrum and z to the one you posted, so it's kind of up in the air as to whether it's a quasar or not.  Hmmmm.... *is puzzled*

[Peek]

OK, thanks for the replies and the links! Good to know that I'm not the only one who gets confused or unsure sometimes.

Hm, I thought a redshift (z-value) of 0.1 - 0.2 was pretty high, but that SDSS page lists redshifts up to 5.0. Yikes...

[Hrundi]

The spectrum looks like an H II region one, not AGN.

[Peek]

The spectrum looks like an H II region one, not AGN.

Uh, which means what?
H II is Hydrogen 2, I assume. Hm, whatever that is... hydrogen with a neutron in the nucleus? Boy, it's a long time since I did any physics... 
But what is AGN? And what's the relevance, in this particular case? Could you explain please, Hrundi?

There should be an "embarrased emoticon"...

[Hrundi]

H II region is basically a region in which star formation occurs.

[Peek]

Ah, OK thanks!

AGN = "Active Galactic Nuclei"?

[Hrundi]

Yes. Basically a nucleus in which they think a black hole is consuming a lot of matter and producing rather bizarre emission lines and even really bright cores.