'Pompom' stars may solve quasar puzzle

Gas filaments surrounding stars like the strands of a pompom may be the answer to a 30-year old mystery: why quasars twinkle.

This solution is published today in The Astrophysical Journal by Dr Mark Walker (Manly Astrophysics) and collaborators at Caltech, Manly Astrophysics and CSIRO.

Their evidence comes from research done with CSIRO’s Compact Array radio telescope in eastern Australia.

Added by Helen Sim on 2017-06-27