HST imaging of quasi-stellar objects with WFPC2

Early images were taken with the optically corrected WFPC2 camera of the Hubble Space Telescope of the low-redshift QSOs 1229+204 and 2141+175, which are radio-quiet and radio-loud, respectively. We discuss image restoration on the data. The objects were chosen on the basis of structure seen with 0.5" resolution with the CFHT high-resolution camera (HRCAM). 1229+204 was known to be a barred spiral with an asymmetrical extra blue feature: this is now resolved into a ring of knots which are probably young stellar populations in the tidal debris of a small gas- rich companion. There are also shell-like structures along the bar. 2141 + 175 has a faint smooth curved tidal arm without knots which extends on both sides of a compact elliptical-shaped central galaxy. There is also a short jetlike feature emerging from the nucleus. We discuss the properties and implications of these morphological details.