_x000D_Image: ESO/M. Kornmesser

What’s a quasar?

Quasars are not your average celestial bodies; they’re the universe’s spotlight, making even the brightest stars look dim in comparison. Imagine a beacon so luminous it makes our sun seem like a faint candle, shining 500 trillion times brighter. Discovered through collaborative efforts by scientists from the Australian National University, the European Southern Observatory, the University of Melbourne, and France’s Sorbonne Université, this particular quasar, powered by a supermassive black hole with an insatiable appetite, devours the mass equivalent of our sun every day. The light from this astonishing object has journeyed for over 12 billion years to reach us, offering a glimpse into the universe’s distant past. Its accretion disk, a colossal seven light-years across, acts as the stage for this spectacular light show.