Science: Far-Out Quasars

Their red shifts seem to be a reliable yardstick

Horrid quasar Near or far.

This truth to you 1 must confess:

My heart for you is full of hate O super star.

Imploded gas, Exploded trash, You glowing speck upon a plate, Of Einstein's world you 've made a mess!

First identified in the 1960s, the enigmatic, starlike objects called quasars are as baffling today as they were more than a decade ago when Astronomer Jesse Greenstein scribbled his poetic plaint on a Caltech blackboard. What sets quasars apart from most other celestial objects is that the light they emit is shifted drastically toward the red,...

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