Sample galaxy 33160

This galaxy has so much dust surrounding it that the brilliant light from its quasar cannot be seen in these Hubble Space Telescope images.

Quasars are the brilliant beacons of light that are powered by black holes feasting on captured material, and in the process, heating some of the matter to millions of degrees.

This galaxy is part of a census of 30 quasar host galaxies conducted with two of NASA's premier observatories, the Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope. It was found in the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS). The study shows that 26 of the host galaxies bear no tell-tale signs of collisions with neighbors, such as distorted shapes.