Extreme object

3C 279

3C 279 is a quasar 6 740 000 000 light-years away.

A quasar that flickers in visible light, radio waves and X-rays; in 1973 its jet seemed to move faster than light, an illusion that comes from the angle we see it at.

Key facts

Kind

Quasar

Distance

6 740 000 000 light-years

See it from here

Too faint for the eye; a telescope, or a long photograph, shows it.

How the map draws it

Drawn as a bright point where its redshift puts it, with a ring marking the place; its disc and its jet are far too small to draw — the kind of thing, not this exact one.