Quasar host galaxy images from the Hubble Space Telescope Archive

ABSTRA C T We systematically searched the non-proprietary data in the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Archive to identify low-redshift quasars that have been imaged with the Wide Field Planetary Camera-2 (WFPC-2) but that have not yet been presented in the literature. We identified five such objects. Since these represent a significant increment to the number of WFPC-2 imaged quasars previously presented in the literature, we here present images of these objects and a discussion of their properties. Of the five objects, two are involved in spectacular ongoing gravitational interactions. This brings the total number of quasars seen on WFPC-2 images to be in such interactions to 11. A further two of the five quasars have close companion objects (i.e. within 30 kpc) suggestive of a recent interaction. No evidence for an interaction can be seen on the fifth quasar. All five host systems are brighter than L, in keeping with the results found for other quasars imaged with WFPC-2. Three of the five quasars are at least 2.5 mag brighter than L, and are among the brightest host galaxies imaged with WFPC-2. The results widen the derived difference in the mean absolute luminosity of the hosts of radio-quiet quasars compared with the hosts of radio-loud quasars.