DUAL QUASAR (ARTIST'S ILLUSTRATION) (IMAGE)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

DUAL QUASAR (ARTIST'S ILLUSTRATION)

Caption

This artist's concept shows the brilliant glare of two quasars residing in the cores of two galaxies that are in the chaotic process of merging. The gravitational tug-of-war between the two galaxies ignites a firestorm of star birth. Quasars are brilliant beacons of intense light from the centers of distant galaxies. They are powered by supermassive black holes voraciously feeding on infalling matter. This feeding frenzy unleashes a torrent of radiation that can outshine the collective light of billions of stars in the host galaxy. In a few tens of millions of years, the black holes and their galaxies will merge, and so will the quasar pair, forming an even more massive black hole.

Credit

NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)

Usage Restrictions

No restrictions.

License

Public Domain

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