Caption: Quasar 3C 273 in constellation Virgo.

3C 273 was the first quasar to be recognized as such in 1963 by Maarten Schmidt (1929--) at Caltech.

It is at cosmological redshift z = 0.158339(67) (correspoding to proper distance ≅ 700 Mpc and lookback time ≅ 2 Gyr).

3C 273 is also a strong radio emitter (FK-611).

The astronomical objects in the image are all points sources, except for the relativistic jet protruding from 3C 273.

The finite sizes are artifacts of the imaging process.

The relativistic jet probably emerges from the accretion disk along its rotation axis.

The engine at the center of the accretion disk is a supermassive black hole.

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