cussing galaxies and quasars, billions are the smallest numbers used (56,57). The theory of how quasars are created is based on the idea that the universe is expanding. Among astronomers, the popular consensus is that the Earth is in an expanding universe in which the laws of physics will hold true beyond this planet as well. G. Mark Voit, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute, believes that the beginning of the universe was a time when many galaxies would be visible to the naked eye because the universe was more condensed than it is in present day. In the centers of many galaxies would be radiant objects that looked like stars but seemed brighter than all of the stars in its galaxy. Contemporary astronomers call these star-like objects quasars and believe their presence more plentiful during the early formation of the universe (41). A professor of astronomy at the University of Wales states that “Quasars were . . . more prevalent in the epoch of high galaxy density, when the universe was younger and more crowded than it is now” (Disney 57). The quasars seen today are billions of light-years away indicating that they have already come and gone, and they no longer exist. A galactic collision is a probable catalyst for the birth of a quasar. It is possible that the diminishing population of quasars is due to the expansion of the universe. Disney reports that the Hubble Telescope reveals that “about three quarters of the host galaxies appeared to be colliding with or swallowing other galaxies” (56). As the galaxies spread further apart, there were fewer collisions among them. The distance provides less swirling matter and gasses, and gives the galaxy room to settle and mature. The minimized violence of collisions during galactic evolution is theoretically related to the decline of quasars (Disney 56,57; Peterson 60; Voit 42). Stephen Hawking’s Universe shows that initi...
