Artist's Conception of Milky Way Quasar (IMAGE) Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian Caption This artist's impression shows the Milky Way as it may have appeared 6 million years ago during a "quasar" phase of activity. A wispy orange bubble extends from the galactic center out to a radius of about 20,000 light-years. Outside of that bubble, a pervasive "fog" of million-degree gas might account for the galaxy's missing matter of 130 billion solar masses. Credit Mark A. Garlick/CfA Usage Restrictions None License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.