Astronomers have obtained the closest look yet at a quasar, using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to study the enigmatic 3C 273, located 2.5 billion light-years away. This quasar, known as the first ever identified in 1963 by astronomer Maarten Schmidt, continues to intrigue scientists with its immense energy output, surpassing that of the brightest galaxies. The recent observations were detailed in reports, offering new insights into the quasar’s environment and its interaction with its host galaxy.

Unveiling the Quasar’s Intriguing Structure

According to the official blog of NASA, Hubble’s Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) coronagraph enabled researchers to block the quasar’s intense glare, exposing structures around its supermassive black hole. Dr. Bin Ren of the Côte d’Azur Observatory stated in interviews that unusual features, including “blobs of varying sizes” and an “L-shaped filamentary structure,” were identified within 16,000 light-years of the black hole. These findings suggest the possibility of smaller satellite galaxies being drawn into the black hole’s gravitational pull.

Hubble’s imaging capabilities also allowed for a closer look at the quasar’s extragalactic jet—a high-energy beam of material extending 300,000 light-years. Data compared with 22-year-old archival images indicated that the jet’s speed increases as it moves farther from the black hole, providing a deeper understanding of quasar jet dynamics.

Implications for Understanding Quasars

As per reports, these observations mark a significant step in decoding the complexities of quasar morphology and galactic interactions. The detailed images suggest that galactic collisions may be fuelling the quasar’s energy, with debris spiralling into its central black hole. Scientists believe these findings could bridge gaps between small-scale radio and large-scale optical studies of quasars.

Hubble’s findings continue to enhance the understanding of quasars, which were most active roughly 3 billion years after the Big Bang. Future observations with the James Webb Space Telescope are expected to shed additional light on the phenomenon. This research underscores the importance of collaborative international efforts in advancing space exploration and cosmology.