The larger red and yellow dots are foreground stars. Not all the galaxies seen here are part of the large quasar group and galaxy cluster. The presumed cluster of galaxies is more than 6.5 billion light-years away. Calculating the time it took the light to get here, researchers say it is seen as the universe was about one-third of its present age. The galaxy cluster is in the largest known group of quasars, remote but intense sources of radio emissions.
Quasars are galaxies with bright cores , probably powered by giant black holes.
This group of quasars is known to be about 600 million light-years across. The galaxies were revealed by light they absorbed from the spectra of even more distant quasars that are located behind the large quasar group. The first step is to look for signs of extra galaxies in the area, and now we have evidence for a surplus of galaxies . The research was presented January 8 at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in San Diego. The massive galaxy concentration is located just south of the heart of the constellation Leo the Lion , in a region spanning some 40 times the area of the full Moon, as seen in the sky from Earth.