What Is the Redshift of the Gamma-ray BL Lac Source S4 0954+65?

Landoni, M.; Falomo, R.; Treves, A.; Scarpa, R.; Reverte Payá, D.
Bibliographical reference

The Astronomical Journal, Volume 150, Issue 6, article id. 181, 4 pp. (2015).

Advertised on:
12
2015
Number of authors
5
IAC number of authors
2
Citations
27
Refereed citations
25
Description
High signal-to-noise ratio spectroscopic observations of the BL Lac object S4 0954+65 at the alleged redshift z = 0.367 are presented. This source was detected at gamma frequencies by the MAGIC (TeV) and FERMI (GeV) telescopes during a remarkable outburst that occurred in 2015 February, making the determination of its distance particularly relevant for our understanding of the properties of the extragalactic background light. Contrary to previous reports on the redshift, we found that the optical spectrum is featureless at an equivalent width limit of ∼0.1 Å. A critical analysis of the existing observations indicates that the redshift is still unknown. Based on the new data we estimate a lower limit to the redshift at z ≥ 0.45.
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