What is the closest quasar to us?

Hi mongolia,

The closest quasar is 600 million light years away, and it is located
in the Cygnus A (3C405) galaxy.

A page on the Arizona State University web site displays a radio image
of the quasar, along with the following caption that identifies the
quasar using the name of the galaxy in which it resides:

"This is a radio image of Cygnus A (3C405) the closest quasar found. 
Its closeness brings into question the currently held theory that all
quasars are very distant and old objects."

Arizona State University - Noble Science and Engineering Library -
Quasars
http://www.asu.edu/lib/noble/space/quasar.htm


While researching this question, I found several web sites that state
that quasar 3C273 is the closest quasar.  But that quasar is over 1.5
billion light years away, so it cannot be the closest quasar.

A news release on the NASA web site tells us that the quasar in the
Cygnus A (3C405) galaxy is 600 million light years away:

"Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found a new
quasar -- not billions of light years away like its known cousins, but
a
mere 600 million light years, the equivalent of Earth's cosmic
backyard."

"The discovery in galaxy Cygnus A will give astronomers their first
opportunity for detailed study of a quasar [...]"

Hubble Uncovers a Hidden Quasar in a Nearby Galaxy (September 21,
1994)
http://spacelink.nasa.gov/NASA.News/NASA.News.Releases/Previous.News.Releases/94.News.Releases/94-09.News.Releases/94-09-21.Hidden.Quasar


I hope this helps.

Regards,
sldreamer


Search strategy:

(closest OR nearest) quasar
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=%28closest+OR+nearest%29+quasar

"closest quasar" OR "nearest quasar"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=%22closest+quasar%22+OR+%22nearest+quasar%22

quasar "cygnus a" site:nasa.gov
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=quasar+%22cygnus+a%22+site%3Anasa.gov

galaxy "cygnus a" 3c405
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=galaxy+%22cygnus+a%22+3c405

Good Answer.

  Thanks for your help.
  Mongolia