According to Bin Ren of the Cote d'Azur Observatory and Universite Cote d'Azur, Hubble's observations unveiled an array of peculiar features near the quasar. "We've got a few blobs of different sizes, and a mysterious L-shaped filamentary structure. This is all within 16,000 light-years of the black hole," Ren explained. These structures may include small satellite galaxies being drawn toward the black hole, potentially supplying material to power the quasar's brilliance.
The quasar in focus, 3C 273, located 2.5 billion light-years away, was the first of its kind identified by astronomer Maarten Schmidt in 1963. Its immense luminosity - over ten times brighter than the largest giant elliptical galaxies - posed a significant mystery in cosmology. Hubble's advanced capabilities now allow researchers to peer into this complex environment, offering critical insights into the forces driving quasars.
In the 1990s, Hubble's observations began revealing the intricate environments of quasars, including evidence of galactic collisions and mergers. These events funnel material onto supermassive black holes, sparking the extraordinary energy output of quasars. Observing 3C 273 is akin to trying to discern an ant on the edge of a headlight's glare, but Hubble's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) functions like a coronagraph, blocking light from the central source and enabling astronomers to study the surrounding regions with remarkable clarity.
Using this technology, scientists have observed structures around 3C 273's black hole at a proximity eight times closer than ever before. The STIS data also revealed details about the quasar's 300,000-light-year-long jet of material, which travels through space at nearly the speed of light. Over two decades of archival comparisons showed 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," Ren said. "Our previous view was very limited, but Hubble is allowing us to understand the complicated quasar morphology and galactic interactions in detail." Ren added that future studies with the James Webb Space Telescope could provide additional insights, especially in the infrared spectrum.
Quasars, which were most prevalent around three billion years after the Big Bang, serve as critical tools for studying cosmic history. At least a million quasars are scattered across the night sky, acting as bright background sources for various astronomical investigations.
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