Brightest quasar in the sky

- Who
- 3C 273
- What
- 12.9 apparent magnitude
- Where
- Not Applicable
- When
- 1963
3C 273 is a quasar around 2.5 billion light years away in the constellation of Virgo. Despite its distance it has an apparent magnitude of 12.9, which is bright enough for it to be seen with relatively modest telescopes.
The extreme luminosity of this quasar is believed to be caused by the heating of a huge accretion disc surrounding a supermassive black hole with a mass of around 886 +/- 187 million solar masses. If 3C 273 was just 30 light years away it would shine as brightly as the Sun in our sky.
3C 273 was the first quasar to be identified, in 1963.