Astronomers discover a trio of quasars

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Keck Observatory image of a triple quasar. Arrows mark the location of three physically distinct quasars in a compact galaxy cluster. Credit: Caltech EPFL and Keck Observatory
Keck Observatory image of a triple quasar. Arrows mark the location of three physically distinct quasars in a compact galaxy cluster. Credit: Caltech, EPFL and Keck Observatory

Using ESO's Very Large Telescope and the W.M. Keck Observatory, astronomers at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland and the California Institute of Technology, USA, have discovered the first known triplet of quasars. This close trio of supermassive black holes lies about 10.5 billion light-years away towards the Virgo (The Virgin) constellation.


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