Free Astronomy Magazine September-October 2026

5 ASTRO PUBLISHING SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026 T his artist’s impression shows a quasar: a brief period of life for a big, bright galaxy during which large quantities of material spiral into its central supermassive black hole, releasing energetic light as it does so. Quasars are the most lu- minous objects in the cosmos, shining hundreds to thousands of times more brightly than entire galaxies. [ESA]