THE most powerful quasar yet discovered in our cosmic neighbourhood is confounding astronomers by spewing out huge amounts of matter at up to 10 per cent of the speed of light.
Quasars are mighty X-ray sources thought to be powered by supermassive black holes, which are supposed to attract, not expel material. The discovery may change our understanding of these mysterious objects.
The gravity near black holes is so strong that even light cannot escape, and they cannot be seen directly. But we can see the material spiralling into their centres, as well as the powerful X-ray jets produced at…
