PKS 1127-145: Quasar View
The quasar known as
PKS 1127-145 lies
ten billion
light-years from our fair planet.
A Hubble Space Telescope
view in the left panel shows this quasar
along with other galaxies as they appear in optical light.
The
quasar itself is the brightest object in the lower right corner.
In the right panel is a
Chandra Observatory x-ray picture, exactly
corresponding to the Hubble field.
While the more ordinary galaxies are
not seen in the Chandra image,
a striking jet, nearly a million light-years long, emerges
from the quasar to dominate the x-ray view.
Bright in both optical and x-ray light, the quasar is thought to
harbor a supermassive black hole
which powers the jet and makes
PKS 1127-145
visible across the
spectrum -- a beacon from the
distant
cosmos.