Astronomers have made significant breakthroughs in understanding a powerful quasar by leveraging the capabilities of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The telescope has observed the intricate environment around the 3C 273 quasar, revealing unusual features that scientists had never seen before.
The Hubble Space Telescope provided stunning views of a mysterious L-shaped structure within 16,000 light-years of the black hole at the center of 3C 273. This discovery was made possible by the telescope’s Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), which functions as a coronagraph to block the light from central sources.
The team observed the innermost structure of the quasar jet, which is thought to be driven by material accreting onto a supermassive black hole. This process accounts for the extraordinary energy output of the quasar. By analyzing the movement and speed of the jet using Hubble’s detailed spatial imaging, scientists gained new insights into the quasar’s host galaxy.
The discovery also sheds light on the morphology of quasars and galactic interactions. The findings are a significant step forward in our understanding of these powerful celestial objects. Future observations with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope may provide even more detail on 3C 273 in infrared light.
Source: https://www.techexplorist.com/closest-ever-look-quasar/94185