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  • Hubble Space Telescope spots double quasars in merging galaxies

    Apr 1, 2021 10:30 am by Lois YoksoulianResearch
    An artist’s conception shows the brilliant light of two quasars residing in the cores of galaxies in the chaotic process of merging. The gravitational tug-of-war between the two galaxies stretches them, forming long tidal tails and igniting a firestorm of star birth. Graphic courtesy NASA, the European Space Agency and J. Olmstead of the Space Telescope Science Institute.

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    'We estimate that in the distant universe, for every 1,000 quasars, there is one double quasar,' astronomer Yue Shen said. 'So finding these double quasars is like finding a needle in a haystack.'

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