This article contains lists of quasars. More than a million quasars have been observed, so any list on Wikipedia is necessarily a selection of them.

Proper naming of quasars is by Catalogue Entry, Qxxxx±yy using B1950 coordinates, or QSO Jxxxx±yyyy using J2000 coordinates. They may also use the prefix QSR. There are currently no quasars that are visible to the naked eye.

List of quasars This is a list of exceptional quasars for characteristics otherwise not separately listed Quasar Notes Twin Quasar Associated with a possible planet microlensing event in the gravitational lens galaxy that is doubling the Twin Quasar's image. QSR J1819+3845 Proved interstellar scintillation due to the interstellar medium. CTA-102 In 1965, Soviet astronomer Nikolai S. Kardashev posited that this quasar could be the source of signals from an alien civilization. CID-42 Its supermassive black hole is being ejected and will one day become a displaced quasar. TON 618 TON 618 is a very distant and extremely luminous quasar—technically, a hyperluminous, broad-absorption line, radio-loud quasar—located near the North Galactic Pole in the constellation Canes Venatici.

List of named quasars This is a list of quasars, with a common name, instead of a designation from a survey, catalogue or list.

Quasar Origin of name Notes Twin Quasar From the fact that two images of the same quasar are produced by gravitational lensing. Einstein Cross From the fact that gravitational lensing of the quasar forms a near perfect Einstein cross, a concept in gravitational lensing. From the fact that there are three bright images of the same gravitationally lensed quasar. There are actually four images; the fourth is faint. Cloverleaf From its appearance having similarity to the leaf of a clover. It has been gravitationally lensed into four images, of roughly similar appearance. Teacup GalaxyThe name comes from the shape of the extended emission, which is shaped like the handle of a teacup. The handle is a bubble shaped by quasar winds or small-scale radio jets.Low redshift, highly obscured type 2 quasar.PōniuāʻenaThe third most distant quasar known as of 2025, named for its early formation at most 100 million years after the Big Bang.Named as part of the A Hua He Inoa program by the ʻImiloa Astronomy Center.

List of multiply imaged quasars This is a list of quasars that as a result of gravitational lensing appear as multiple images on Earth.

Quasar Images Lens Notes Twin Quasar 2 YGKOW G1 First gravitationally lensed object discovered Triple Quasar (PG 1115+080) 4 Originally discovered as 3 lensed images, the fourth image is faint. It was the second gravitationally lensed quasar discovered. Einstein Cross 4 Huchra's Lens First Einstein Cross discovered RX J1131-1231's quasar 4 RX J1131-1231's elliptical galaxy RX J1131-1231 is the name of the complex, quasar, host galaxy and lensing galaxy, together. The quasar's host galaxy is also lensed into a Chwolson ring about the lensing galaxy. The four images of the quasar are embedded in the ring image. Cloverleaf 4 Brightest known high-redshift source of CO emission QSO B1359+154 6 CLASS B1359+154 and three more galaxies First sextuply-imaged galaxy SDSS J1004+4112 5 Galaxy cluster at z = 0.68 First quasar discovered to be multiply image-lensed by a galaxy cluster and currently the third largest quasar lens with the separation between images of 15 SDSS J1029+2623 3 Galaxy cluster at z = 0.6 The current largest-separation quasar lens with 22.6 separation between furthest images SDSS J2222+2745 6 Galaxy cluster at z = 0.49 First sextuply-lensed galaxyScienceDaily, "Quasar Observed in Six Separate Light Reflections", 7 August 2013 Third quasar discovered to be lensed by a galaxy cluster. Quasar located at z = 2.82RX J0911.4+05514Galaxy located at z = 0.76Gravitationally lensed object discovered by the ROSAT All-Sky survey in 1997. Quasar located at z = 2.800.CLASS B1152+1992Galaxy located at z = 0.43HE 1104-18052Galaxy located at z = 0.72Also known as Double Hamburger.HE 2149-27452Galaxy at z = 0.60Gravitationally lensed broad absorption object (BAL) at z = 2.033FBQ 0951+26352Galaxy located at z = 0.26HE0435-12234Elliptical galaxy of HE0435-1223 at z = 0.45Quasar located at z = 1.689. Components arranged in cross figuration. SBS 0909+5322Lens galaxy of SBS 0909+532 at z = 0.83Originally interpreted as a binary quasar but later revealed as a gravitationally lensed object. UM 6732Lens galaxy at z = 0.49 Quasar located at at z = 2.71, first discovered by J. Surdej (1988)CTQ 327 2Lens galaxy between z = 0.4 and z= 0.6CTQ 4142Discovered in 1999. Quasar located at z = 1.29.HE 0230-21305Complex lensed system. Quasar located at z = 2.130.SDSS J1001+50272Lens galaxy at z = 0.3SDSS J1206+43322Lens galaxy at z = 0.74SDSS J0246-08252Lens galaxy at z = 0.724Discovered by Scott Burles (2005).SDSS J0904+15122Discovered in the SDSS Quasar Lens Search (2010)SDSS J1054+27332Discovered in the SDSS Quasar Lens Search (2010)SDSS J1620+12032Lens galaxy at z = 0.39Discovered in the SDSS Quasar Lens Search (2010). Quasar located at z = 1.158SDSS J0746+44032Lens galaxy at z = 0.513Discovered in 2007. Quasar located at z = 2.00

List of visual quasar associations This is a list of double quasars, triple quasars, and the like, where quasars are close together in line-of-sight, but not physically related.

Quasars Count Notes QSO 1548+115 4C 11.50 (z = 0.436) QSO B1548+115B (z = 1.901) 2 SIMBAD, Object query : QSO 1548+115 QSO 1146+111 8SIMBAD, Object query : QSO 1146+111 z represents redshift, a measure of recessional velocity and inferred distance due to cosmological expansion

List of physical quasar groups This is a list of binary quasars, trinary quasars, and the like, where quasars are physically close to each other.

Quasars Count Notes quasars of SDSS J0841+3921 protocluster 4 First quasar quartet discovered.Space Daily, "Astronomers Baffled by Discovery of Rare Quasar Quartet", 18 May 2015 LBQS 1429-008 (QQQ 1432-0106) 3 First quasar triplet discovered. It was first discovered as a binary quasar, before the third quasar was found. QQ2345+007 (Q2345+007) Q2345+007A Q2345+007B 2 Originally thought to be a doubly imaged quasar, but actually a quasar couplet. QQQ J1519+0627 3 SpaceDaily, "Extremely rare triple quasar found", 14 March 2013 (accessed 14 March 2013)

Large Quasar Groups

Large quasar groups (LQGs) are bound to a filament of mass, and not directly bound to each other.

LQG Count Notes Webster LQG (LQG 1) 5 First LQG discovered. At the time of its discovery, it was the largest structure known. Huge-LQG (U1.27) 73 The largest structure known in the observable universe, as of 2013. ScienceDaily, "Biggest Structure in Universe: Large Quasar Group Is 4 Billion Light Years Across", Royal Astronomical Society, 11 January 2013 (accessed 13 January 2013)

List of quasars with apparent superluminal jet motion This is a list of quasars with jets that appear to be superluminal due to relativistic effects and line-of-sight orientation. Such quasars are sometimes referred to as superluminal quasars.

Quasar Superluminality Notes 3C 279 4c First quasar discovered with superluminal jetsNew Scientist, Quasar jets and cosmic engines: Some galaxies spew out vast amounts of material into space at velocities close to that of light. Astronomers still don't know why, 16 March 1991The superluminal radio source in the gamma-ray blazar 3C 279 3C 179 7.6c Fifth discovered, first with double lobes 3C 273 This is also the first quasar ever identifiedDaily Intelligencer, The May 29, 1981; 3C 216 3C 345 3C 380 4C 69.21 (Q1642+690, QSO B1642+690) 4C 39.25 4C 38.41 8C 1928+738 (Q1928+738, QSO J1927+73, Quasar J192748.6+735802) PKS 0637-752

Quasars that have a recessional velocity greater than the speed of light (c) are very common. Any quasar with z > 1 is receding faster than c, while z exactly equal to 1 indicates recession at the speed of light. Early attempts to explain superluminal quasars resulted in convoluted explanations with a limit of z = 2.326, or in the extreme z < 2.4. The majority of quasars lie between z = 2 and z = 5.

Firsts Title Quasar Year Data Notes First quasar discovered 3C 48 1960 First radio source for which optical identification was found, that was a star-like looking object First "star" discovered later found to be a quasar First radio source discovered later found to be a quasar First quasar identified 3C 273 1962 First radio-"star" found to be at a high redshift with a non-stellar spectrum. First radio-quiet quasar QSO B1246+377 (BSO 1) 1965 The first radio-quiet quasi-stellar objects (QSO) were called Blue Stellar Objects or BSO, because they appeared like stars and were blue in color. They also had spectra and redshifts like radio-loud quasi-stellar radio-sources (QSR), so became quasars.SIMBAD, Object query : BSO 1, QSO B1246+377 -- Quasar First host galaxy of a quasar discovered 3C 48 1982 First quasar found to seemingly not have a host galaxy HE0450-2958 (Naked Quasar) 2005 Some disputed observations suggest a host galaxy, others do not. First multi-core quasar PG 1302-102 2014 Binary supermassive black holes within the quasar First quasar containing a recoiling supermassive black hole SDSS J0927+2943 2008 Two optical emission line systems separated by 2650 km/s First gravitationally lensed quasar identified Twin Quasar 1979 Lensed into 2 images The lens is a galaxy known as YGKOW G1 First quasar found with a jet with apparent superluminal motion 3C 279 1971 First quasar found with the classic double radio-lobe structure 3C 47 1964 First quasar found to be an X-ray source 3C 273 1967 First "dustless" quasar found QSO J0303-0019 and QSO J0005-0006 2010 Discovery News, "Primordial 'Dust Free' Monsters Lurk at the Edge of the Universe", Ian O'Neill, 18 March 2010 (accessed 6 April 2010)DNA India, "Astronomers discover most primitive supermassive black holes known", ANI, 19 March 2010 (accessed 6 April 2010)Scientific Computing, "Fast-growing Primitive Black Holes found in Distant Quasars " (accessed 4 April 2010)SIMBAD, "QSO J0303-0019" (accessed 4 April 2010)SIMBAD, "QSO J0005-0006" (accessed 4 April 2010) First Large Quasar Group discovered Webster LQG (LQG 1) 1982

Extremes Title Quasar Data Notes Brightest 3C 273 Apparent magnitude of ~12.9 Absolute magnitude: −26.7 Seemingly optically brightest APM 08279+5255 Seeming absolute magnitude of −32.2 This quasar is gravitationally lensed; its actual absolute magnitude is estimated to be −30.5 Most luminous SMSS J215728.21-360215.1 Absolute magnitude of −32.36 Highest absolute magnitude discovered thus far. Most powerful quasar radio source 3C 273 Also the most powerful radio source in the sky Most powerful SMSS J215728.21-360215.1 Most variable quasar radio source QSO J1819+3845 (Q1817+387) Also the most variable extrasolar radio source Least variable quasar radio source Most variable quasar optical source Least variable quasar optical source Most distant UHZ1 z = 10.1 Most distant quasar known as of 2023 Most distant radio-quiet quasar Most distant radio-loud quasar QSO J1427+3312 z = 6.12 Found June 2008Radio astronomers detect 'baby quasar' near the edge of the visible Universe, 13:50 EST, 6 June 2008SIMBAD, Object query : QSO J1427+3312, QSO J1427+3312 -- Quasar Most distant blazar quasar PSO J0309+27 z > 6 Least distant Markarian 231 600 Mly inactive: IC 2497 Largest Large Quasar Group Huge-LQG (U1.27) 73 quasars Fastest Growing QuasarSMSS J052915.80–435152.0(QSO J0529-4351)~ 413 solar masses per year (using standard radiative efficiency);~ 370 solar masses per year (using best-fit slim disc model)

First quasars found

+ First 10 Quasars Identified Rank Quasar Date of discovery Notes 1 3C 273 1963 2 3C 48 1963 3 3C 47 1964 3 3C 147 1964 5 CTA 102 1965 ; 5 3C 287 1965 5 3C 254 1965 5 3C 245 1965 5 3C 9 1965

These are the first quasars which were found and had their redshifts determined.

Most distant quasars