APOD: 2002 March 9 - A Quasar Portrait Gallery (original) (raw)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2002 March 9

Explanation: Quasars(QUASi-stellAR objects) lie near the edge of the observableUniverse. Discovered in 1963,astronomers were astounded that such objects could be visible across billions of light-years, as this implies they must emit prodigious amounts of energy. Where doesthe energy come from? Many believe the quasar's central engine is a giant black hole fueled by tremendous amounts of infalling gas, dust, and stars.This gallery of quasar portraits from the Hubble Space Telescope offers a look at their local neighborhoods: the quasars themselves appear as the bright star-like objects with diffraction spikes.The images in the center and right hand columns reveal quasars associated with disrupted colliding and merging galaxies which should provideplenty of debris to feed a hungryblack hole.