Abstract
Determination of the Q0957+561 A,B time delay from long-term brightness monitoring of the random pattern of quasar fluctuations at optical and radio wavelengths constitutes the best proof that the object is indeed a gravitational lens, because microlensing and other subtle effects cause the spectra, colors and other instantaneous properties of the multiple images of a lensed quasar to be not strictly identical. Observation of a random pattern of brightness fluctuations at optical and radio frequencies has been undertaken since the source’s identification in 1979. The resulting time series of source brightness now provides fertile ground for exploration of other quasar and microlensing properties.
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© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Schild, R.E., Thomson, D.J. (1997). The Q0957+561 Time Delay, Quasar Structure, and Microlensing. In: Maoz, D., Sternberg, A., Leibowitz, E.M. (eds) Astronomical Time Series. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 218. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8941-3_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8941-3_7
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