Chandra Release - November 28, 2012

Visual Description: GB 1428+4217

The composite image of the quasar GB 1428+4217, or GB 1428 for short, shows a small, bright purple and periwinkle spot at the center, which stands out due to its contrast against the dark background. This blue spot resembles a glowing scoop or dipper. Surrounding the blue spot are numerous small gold dots and flecks of light, which appear as tiny specks of dust floating in space. The image shows the most distant X-ray jet ever observed as seen by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory that are colored in blue Radio data from the NSF's Very Large Array are colored in purple and optical data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope are in gold. The jet was produced by the GB 1428 quasar and is located 12.4 billion light years from Earth. The shape of the jet is very similar in the X-ray and radio data.