The Host Galaxy of the Broad Absorption Line QSO PG 1700+518 and Its Ring Galaxy Companion: NICMOS 1.6 Micron Imaging
Hines, Dean C.; Thompson, Rodger I.; Weymann, Ray J.; Storrie-Lombardi, Lisa J.; Low, Frank J.
United States
Abstract
The 1.6 μm Near Infrared Camera and Multiobject Spectrometer image of the broad absorption line QSO PG 1700+518 clearly resolves the QSO host galaxy and a ringlike companion. The companion is most likely a ring galaxy produced in a collision with the QSO galaxy ~5×107 yr ago. The morphology of the PG 1700+518 system is very similar to IRAS 04505-2958 (Boyce et al. 1996). Both objects were identified in a sample of eight QSOs selected by ``warm'' far-IR colors and extreme IR luminosities (Low et al. 1988). All eight QSOs show signs of strong interaction, and the presence of two head-on colliding systems in this sample may suggest that small impact parameters favor the energizing of IR-luminous QSOs.
Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.