On Quasar Distances and Lifetimes in a Local Model

Abstract

It was shown previously from the redshifts and positions of the compact, high-redshift objects near the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068 that they appear to have been ejected from the center of the galaxy in four similarly structured triplets. In this local scenario, they lie at the distance of NGC 1068, a distance much closer than a cosmological interpretation of their redshifts would imply. A large portion of their measured redshifts would then be intrinsic, and it was found that this intrinsic component decreases with increasing distance from the galaxy. Here some of the consequences of assuming such a local model for quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) are examined. As has been found in several similar cases, the luminosity of the objects increases systematically with the decrease in redshift. The luminosity change cannot be Doppler-related, and a model in which the luminosities and intrinsic redshifts vary with time is found to fit the data best. This local scenario thus appears to require a model similar to the one suggested by Narlikar & Das, in which the creation of matter is ongoing throughout the life of the universe. In fact, the observed increase in luminosity with decreasing intrinsic redshift found here is in reasonable agreement with their prediction. In their model, matter is created with a high intrinsic redshift in mini Big Bangs and is ejected in the form of QSOs from the centers of active galaxies. From the ages of the ejection events in NGC 1068, it is found that in a relatively short time (107-108 yr), the intrinsic redshift component in these objects disappears and their luminosity approaches that of a normal galaxy. This period, which is much shorter than a Hubble time, may then determine the approximate lifetime of a QSO, and, in this model, QSOs may be the first, short-lived stage in the life of a galaxy. Perhaps of even more interest is the result that when QSOs are assumed to be local, their generation rate is found to be constant throughout the age of the universe. There is no need to invoke an epoch of enhanced, high-luminosity QSO production as is required in the cosmological redshift model to explain the apparent bunching-up of high-luminosity QSOs with redshifts near z = 2. Finally, because QSO lifetimes are relatively short (less than 108 yr), an initial event (big bang) is still required to explain the high-redshift galaxies whose intrinsic redshift component will have long since disappeared. The Hubble expansion is therefore still expected to apply for normal galaxies.