June 4
Quasar 3C 273
Observed in 1994
The quasar 3C 273 resides at the heart of a galaxy nearly 2 billion light-years away. A quasar is a brilliant source of energy at the center of a distant galaxy, and is believed to flare up when gas, dust or other material falls onto a supermassive black hole at the galaxy's core.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Space Telescope