Hubble took the closest-ever image of a quasar, and captured some 'weird things'

Astronomers have utilized NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to delve deeper than ever into the enigmatic surroundings of quasar 3C 273. The study has uncovered new features that bring the experts closer to understanding the processes powering these celestial beacons. 

Quasars, short for “quasi-stellar objects,” are some of the most luminous and energetic phenomena in the universe.

They are powered by supermassive black holes at the centers of distant galaxies, where matter spirals inward, forming an accretion disk that releases immense amounts of energy as it heats up.

Weird things in the quasar’s environment

The latest Hubble observations provide unprecedented detail about the quasar’s environment, including what researcher Bin Ren from the Côte d’Azur Observatory describes as “weird things.” 

The team observed various peculiar structures within 16,000 light-years of the central black hole, including blobs of differing sizes and a mysterious L-shaped filament. 

These features may include satellite galaxies that could feed material into the black hole, further fueling the quasar’s immense energy output.

“Thanks to Hubble’s observing power, we’re opening a new gateway into understanding quasars,” Ren said. “My colleagues are excited because they’ve never seen this much detail before.”

Quasar 3C 273: A celestial powerhouse

Quasar 3C 273 is not only one of the closest quasars to Earth but also the first to be identified. It was discovered in 1963 by astronomer Maarten Schmidt. 

Located 2.5 billion light-years away, quasar 3C 273 emits energy exceeding that of the brightest elliptical galaxies by a factor of ten. If it were much closer to Earth – within a few tens of light-years – it would shine as brightly as the Sun.

The term quasi-stellar object reflects the quasar’s starlike appearance in the night sky. However, as Schmidt noted, its extreme luminosity could only be explained by the accretion of material onto a supermassive black hole, marking the discovery of a new class of cosmic phenomena.

Insights from Hubble’s advanced instruments

In 1994, Hubble’s sharp imaging revealed that quasars’ host environments are far more complex than initially assumed. Earlier observations hinted at galactic collisions and mergers funneling debris toward supermassive black holes, effectively reigniting quasars.

Now, with its Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), Hubble has pushed these insights further by employing a coronagraph, which blocks the intense light from the quasar’s core. 

This approach allowed researchers to focus on fine details of the quasar’s host galaxy, unveiling dusty disks and intricate galactic interactions.

The coronagraph enabled astronomers to examine regions eight times closer to the black hole than ever before. For context, observing the quasar’s core is likened to trying to spot an ant on a car’s headlight while staring directly into the glare.

Understanding quasar host morphology

The STIS instrument also provided remarkable observations of the quasar’s 300,000-light-year-long extragalactic jet. This enormous stream of material is traveling at nearly the speed of light. 

By comparing new data with archival images from 22 years ago, the researchers discovered that the jet accelerates as it moves farther from the black hole.

“With the fine spatial structures and jet motion, Hubble bridged a gap between the small-scale radio interferometry and large-scale optical imaging observations, and thus we can take an observational step towards a more complete understanding of quasar host morphology,” Ren explained. 

“In the future, looking further at 3C 273 in infrared light with the James Webb Space Telescope might give us more clues.”

Tools for astronomical research

Quasar 3C 273 is just one of over one million quasars that are distributed throughout the vast expanse of the universe. These remarkable objects serve as invaluable tools for astronomical research.

Quasars peaked in abundance roughly three billion years after the Big Bang, during a time when galactic collisions were far more frequent. These collisions provided the necessary conditions for their formation.

Hubble’s cutting-edge observations of 3C 273 not only deepen our understanding of quasars but also set the stage for future studies.

As researchers continue to unlock the secrets of these cosmic lighthouses, they shed light on the intricate processes driving the evolution of galaxies across the cosmos.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Bin Ren (Université Côte d’Azur/CNRS)

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