The host galaxy of 3C 279

We have obtained a deep i-band image of the blazar 3C 279 while the target was in a low optical state. Due to the faintness of the optical nucleus we have made the first detection of the host galaxy. The host galaxy has an apparent I-band magnitude of $18.4 \pm0.3$ and an effective radius of ( $2.7 \pm 1.1$) arcsec. The luminosity of the host galaxy MR = -23.8 is consistent with the luminosities of other radio-loud quasar host galaxies. Using the empirical correlation between bulge luminosity and central black hole mass $M_{\rm bh}$ we estimate $\log(M_{\rm bh}/M_{\odot}) = 8.9\pm0.5$, broadly consistent with values obtained by photoionization methods.