Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Pictor (Pic)
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The most luminous known quasar in the universe, Roger Gifkins
The most luminous known quasar in the universe
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The most luminous known quasar in the universe

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The most luminous known quasar in the universe, Roger Gifkins
The most luminous known quasar in the universe
Powered byPixInsight

The most luminous known quasar in the universe

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This is possibly the most boring image on astrobin, however the details behind this quasar (which were published in a paper this week) are mind blowing! A 17 billion solar mass quasar at a distance of 12 billion light years (z=3.962) and still visible on earth as a 16th mag star. This is the recently discovered quasar SMSS J052915.80-435152.0. See the link above for the paper anouncing it's discovery. It is surprising and difficult to explain how a black hole this big could exist so soon after the big bang.

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