A cold quasar is a rare population of luminous unobscured quasars associated with starburst galaxies with an high rate of

star formation Star formation is the process by which dense regions within molecular clouds in The "medium" is present further soon.-->interstellar space

of about 1000 solar masses per year. Theses quasars have a significant amount of cold gas at the center of the

galaxy A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...

. Theses rare types of quasars are not well explained by simplistic models of quasar evolution and fueling. There are 64

galaxies A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...

that are described to host a cold quasar.

Discovery

The discovery of cold quasars was formally announced in 2019 by Professor Allison Kirkpatrick at the 234th meeting of the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

in St. Louis.

References

{{Galaxy-stub Galaxies *