325-quasar-a-dixon – active galaxies collide, feeding matter to the central black holes that power quasars; This illustration depicts a violent gravitational interaction between two spiral galaxies in deep space. The larger galaxy on the right hosts an active quasar core, erupting with a brilliant, tightly focused particle jet of yellow-white light that shears through the surrounding space. Opaque dust lanes and tidal streams of stars tear away from the smaller companion galaxy on the left, funneling matter directly into the primary system's active accretion disk. acrylic and gouache painting by Don Dixon for "Scientific American"
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