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This is an artist's conception of how the quasar would appear close up. The very hot extremely luminous quasar at the center of the image is very bright at ultraviolet wavelengths, and light from the quasar ionizes the surrounding gas, producing the red color that is characteristic of ionized hydrogen.
Faint compact galaxies that have just been born appear in the background. The galaxies' hot stars also ionize their surroundings, but only in the immediate vicinity as they are far less luminous than the quasar which can ionize over a much larger volume.Image credit: Gemini Observatory/AURA, artwork by Lynette Cook
