The well-known quasar 3C 273 was discovered in 1959 when astrono- mers at Cambridge University surveyed the sky, measuring the positions of all strong radio sources as part of the Third Cambridge Catalogue of Radio Sources project, more commonly known as the 3C Catalogue. While many 3C radio sources coincided with optically observed stars, the spectral lines emitted by 3C 273 and several other objects did not occur at the usual wavelengths. These new and enigmatic objects were named ΓÇ£quasi-stellar radio sources,ΓÇ¥ or quasars.
A few years later, an accurate position of the radio source for the object numbered 3C 273 was measured; it coincided with a reasonably bright star. Martin
