3C 273 is a quasar located at the center of a giant elliptical galaxy in the constellation of Virgo. It was the first quasar ever to be identified and is the visually brightest quasar in the sky as seen from Earth, with an apparent visual magnitude of 12.9. [ 2 ]

Apr 17, 2023 · This image from Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) is likely the best of ancient and brilliant quasar 3C 273, which resides in a giant elliptical galaxy in the constellation of Virgo (The Virgin).

Known as 3C 273, this was the first quasar to be identified and the optically-brightest at magnitude +12.9. It is the extremely luminous core of an active galaxy powered by a supermassive black hole and lies a staggering 2,443 million light-years distant, receding from us at 14.6 percent of the speed of light.

Dec 5, 2024 · For Hubble, staring into the quasar 3C 273 is like looking directly into a blinding car headlight and trying to see an ant crawling on the rim around it. The quasar pours out thousands of times the entire energy of stars in a galaxy. One of closest quasars to Earth, 3C 273 is 2.5 billion light-years away.

Dec 10, 2024 · A striking feature of 3C 273 is its extragalactic jet—a high-energy beam of particles extending approximately 300,000 light-years from the quasar. This jet is one of the longest ever observed and provides a unique opportunity to study the physics of …

Dec 30, 2024 · Astronomers have achieved an extraordinary milestone by capturing the closest and most detailed image of one of the universe's brightest objects—quasar 3C 273. Located 2.5 billion light-years away, this cosmic beacon is one of the closest quasars to Earth and an essential window into the mysteries of our universe.

Jan 1, 2024 · In the case of 3C 273, you’re looking at the first quasar ever discovered, receiving photons emitted a couple of billion years ago from the maw of a supermassive black hole. You can find it 31/2°...

Dec 5, 2024 · A Hubble Space Telescope image of the core of quasar 3C 273. A coronagraph on Hubble blocks out the glare coming from the supermassive black hole at the heart of the quasar. This allows astronomers to see unprecedented details near the black hole such as weird filaments, lobes,...

The quasar 3C 273 is a point source around magnitude 12.7 in the constellation Virgo (J2000 RA:12 29 06.7, Dec:+02 03 08.6), and AAVSO charts are available here. AAVSO observer Thomas Cragg (CR) made the first visual observation of 3C 273 on February 9, 1964 (m vis =12.9), and many others in the AAVSO community have enthusiastically followed ...

Apr 1, 2022 · 3C 273 is a quasar: a super luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). At the center of the celestial wonder, located 2 billion light-years away, sits a supermassive black hole that weighs in at...