3C 273: a Starlike Object with Large Redshift, (p. 1040) WITH Investigation of the Radio Source 2C 273 by the Method of Lunar Occutlations (p. 1037) plus 3 other related papers in Nature 197, 1963 [FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST OBSERVATION OF A QUASAR]
1963. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST OBSERVATION OF A QUASAR.
While studying the light spectra of radio sources at the California Institute of Technology, Maarten Schmidt identified the visible object corresponding to a radio source known as 3C 273. While its star-like appearance suggested it was relatively nearby, its spectrum proved to have a very high redshift (it proved to be receding at 37% of the speed of light), showing that it lay far beyond the Milky Way and possessed an extraordinarily high luminosity. Schmidt termed 3C 273 a "quasi-stellar object" (later named quasar). "The nature of the quasars remained a mystery, but the discovery of this very bright example enabled Schmidt to obtain a high-quality optical spectrum of 3C 272 with the Palomar two-hundred-inch telescope, in California. Schmidt's elucidation of its nature opened completely new perspectives for astronomy and high-energy astrophysics" (A Century of Nature).
This volume also contains three other seminal papers on 3C 273: J. B. Okie's "Absolute Energy Distribution in the Optical Spectrum of 3C 273;" Jesse L. Greenstein and Thomas A Matthew's "Red Shift of the Unusual Radio Source 3C 48;" and C. Hazard, M. B. Mackey, and A. J. Shimmin's "Investigation of the Radio Source 2C 273 by the Method of Lunar Occulations." Item #1629
CONDITION & DETAILS: 4to. (11 x 8 inches; 275 x 200mm). Ex-libris: label at spine; small, faint stamp on p. 1; paste slip on rear pastedown. Bound in red cloth; very slight wear at the edges. Tightly and very solidly bound. Bright and very clean throughout. Very good condition.
Price: $375.00