APM 08279+5255 is a quasar, which is one of the most luminous types of objects in the universe. A quasar is a supermassive black hole at the centre of a galaxy, surrounded by a disk of gas and dust that’s spiralling inwards due to the intense force of gravity. As this material heats up to extreme temperatures, it releases enormous amounts of energy across the electromagnetic spectrum, which is incredibly bright.

Despite this, the extreme distance would normally make APM 08279+5255 invisible to us. However, a cosmic coincidence changes the equation. There’s actually a galaxy located in space directly between us and the quasar (although it’s too faint to see in my photo). The gravity of this galaxy bends and magnifies the light coming from the distant quasar, effectively acting like a colossal natural telescope. This lensing amplification is why the quasar is bright enough to see (albeit as just a few pixels without any detail!)

The light recorded in my image has been travelling for roughly 12 billion years. Because the universe has continued expanding during that time, the quasar is now around 23 billion light-years away in present-day distance.So, we’re observing it as it appeared when the universe was only about 1.8 billion years old (about 13% its current age).

When I was processing this image, I noticed lots of galaxies in the field of view. These galaxies are millions of times closer than the quasar, tens or hundreds of millions of light-years away rather than billions. The photons captured from the quasar began their journey long before many of the foreground galaxies had even formed.

Here’s a selection of the galaxies I spotted:
PGC 2430406
PGC 2435142
NGC 2606
NGC 2600
PGC 23996
PGC 23850
PGC 23960
PGC 23880
…and lots more that were little more than pin-pricks of light!