Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2022 February 22 [2]The featured image is an illustration of an early quasar showing an accretion disk surrounding a massive black hole emanating a central jet. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Illustration: An Early Quasar Illustration Credit & [3]License: [4]ESO, [5]M. Kornmesser Explanation: What did the first quasars look like? The nearest [6]quasars are now known to involve [7]supermassive black holes in the centers of [8]active galaxies. Gas and [9]dust that falls toward a quasar glows brightly, sometimes outglowing the entire home galaxy. The [10]quasars that formed in the first billion years of the universe are more mysterious, though. [11]Featured, recent data has enabled an artist's impression of an early-universe quasar as it might have been: centered on a massive black hole, [12]surrounded by sheets of gas and an [13]accretion disk, and expelling a [14]powerful jet. Quasars are among the most distant objects we see and give [15]humanity unique information about the early and [16]intervening universe. The oldest quasars currently known are seen at just short of [17]redshift 8 -- only 700 million years after the [18]Big Bang -- when the universe was only a few percent of its current age. Tomorrow's picture: open space __________________________________________________________________ [19]< | [20]Archive | [21]Submissions | [22]Index | [23]Search | [24]Calendar | [25]RSS | [26]Education | [27]About APOD | [28]Discuss | [29]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [30]Robert Nemiroff ([31]MTU) & [32]Jerry Bonnell ([33]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [34]Specific rights apply. [35]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [36]ASD at [37]NASA / [38]GSFC & [39]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2202/Quasar_EsoKormesser_4112.jpg 3. https://www.eso.org/public/outreach/copyright/ 4. https://www.eso.org/ 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Kornmesser 6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasar 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210331.html 8. https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/active_galaxies1.html 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030706.html 10. https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/q/quasar 11. https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1122a/ 12. https://sbly-web-prod-shareably.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/24100853/Screen-Shot-2019-04-24-at-1.07.37-PM.png 13. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13326 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180716.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190818.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211017.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130408.html 18. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/big-bang/en/ 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220221.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 23. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 28. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220222 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220223.html 30. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 32. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 33. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 35. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 36. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 37. https://www.nasa.gov/ 38. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 39. http://www.mtu.edu/