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Eye Contact with a Supermassive Black Hole: Blazar 3C 264 The extremely bright nucleus of the elliptical galaxy 3C 264 features an exotic monster. It hosts a supermassive black hole, which feeds on the surrounding matter und shoots out shining particles from its poles 1000 light-years into space. This rare cosmic constellation is called "blasar", the brighter and more face-on brother of the quasar. Raw Data: HST via HLA, NASA/ESA. Processing: N. Sulzenauer. NED · Article · Credits