A new very interesting pair of quasars - Q0107 - 025 A and B

A search for ultraviolet-excess objects in a field centered around NGC 450 has revealed the presence of two quasar-candidates (18.2 and 17.4 mag) fairly near one another (separation of 77 arcsec). Preliminary spectroscopy with the Palomar 5 m telescope shows that these objects are indeed two quasars (Q0107 - 025 A and B) having very similar spectra and redshifts (of about 0.96), suggesting a new possible case of twin quasars or of a gravitational lens. Although the analysis (to be published elsewhere) of additional spectroscopic data collected with the ESO 3.6 m telescope rather favors the first interpretation, higher resolution data are still necessary before rejecting definitely the second possibility. Deep multi-color CCD frames obtained with the Danish 1.5 m telescope clearly show that a group (or cluster) of faint galaxies is detected in the vicinity of the two quasars.