Dusty galaxy. Computer artwork of a dusty galaxy similar to several imaged by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The dust hides such galaxies from optica

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Dusty galaxy. Computer artwork of a dusty galaxy similar to several imaged by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The dust hides such galaxies from optical telescopes but not from infrared telescopes. The galaxies are very distant, approximately 11 billion light years away, and therefore what we see of them is very ancient. The galaxies are many trillion times brighter than stars and are thought to be dusty quasars. Quasars are very bright galaxies centred around a supermassive black hole. It is not known where the dust comes from.

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Size: 3000px × 2400px
Photo credit: © NASA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: ancient, artwork, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, black, computer, cosmology, distant, dust, galaxy, hole, illustration, object, quasar, quasi, radio, science, source, space, stellar, supermassive