Galaxies linked by quasar-making nebula six times bigger than the Milky Way

[Swede]

Billions of light years away, quasars are the brightest objects in the universe. So bright, in fact, that we'd never gotten a good look at what makes them tick...until scientists discovered a gargantuan nebula linking galaxies and fueling one quasar.

A subclass of galaxies contain an incredibly active galactic nucleus, thought to contain a central black hole millions of times the mass of our Sun. This huge amount of activity makes these galaxies what's known as quasi-stellar radio source, or quasars for short. The quasar is basically the result of the massive accretion disc of debris, which can be anywhere from ten to ten-thousand times the size of the black hole itself. The unbelievably strong gravitational forces in the accretion disc make the debris become super hot, emitting massive amounts of energy, which creates what we see as the quasar.

http://io9.com/5572366/galaxies-linked-by-quasar+making-nebula-six-times-bigger-than-the-milky-way

[gtar100]

1. The universe conducts experiments on super-massive scales.

As if there's some kind of entity saying, "oh, what if I do this..." and proceeds to build energy farms larger than entire galaxies.

So what's to become of it? Or, what became of it and what is it's current state today? Because 10 billion years from now is as inevitable as tomorrow. And every particle that makes up what we are will inevitably be there.

[roguevalley]

4. I love this stuff. thank you.

[pleah]

2. K&R

[Odin2005]

3. Quasars are the coolest objects in the universe.

It is suspected that when the Milky Way and Andromeda merge their central black holes will fuse into a single hole and will ignite a quasar.