Astronomers have observed a luminous quasar 13.03 billion light-years from Earth the most distant quasar discovered to date.
Dating back to 670 million years after the Big Bang, when the universe was only 5% its current age, the quasar hosts a supermassive black hole equivalent to the combined mass of 1.6 billion suns.
In addition to being the most distant and by extension, earliest quasar known, the object is the first of its kind to show evidence of an outflowing wind of super-heated gas escaping from the surroundings of the black hole at a fifth of the speed of light.
In addition to revealing a strong quasar-driven wind, the new observations also show intense star formation activity in the host galaxy where the quasar, formally designated J0313-1806, is located.
Quasar Discovery Sets New Distance Record — Agenparl agenparl.eu - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from agenparl.eu Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A team of astronomers including a University of Michigan researcher has observed a luminous quasar 13.03 billion light-years from Earth the most distant quasar discovered to date.
Timeline of the Big Bang (Image: GETTY) In this case, one that involves vast quantities of primordial, cold hydrogen gas directly collapsing into a seed black hole. In order for the black hole to have grown to the size we see with J0313-1806, it would have to have started out with a seed black hole of at least 10,000 solar masses, and that would only be possible in the direct collapse scenario.
The research published in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters said that the black hole at the centre of J0313-1806 is digesting the equivalent of 25 Suns each year, which is thought to be the main reason for its high-velocity hot plasma wind blowing into the galaxy around it at relativistic speed.
Scientists find earliest supermassive black hole and quasar in the universe
The most distant quasar known has been discovered.
The quasar, observed just 670 million years after the Big Bang, is 1000 times more luminous than the Milky Way.
It is powered by the earliest known supermassive black hole, which weighs in at more than 1.6 billion times the mass of the Sun.
Seen more than 13 billion years ago, this fully formed distant quasar is also the earliest yet discovered, providing astronomers with insight into the formation of massive galaxies in the early Universe.
The result was released today at the January 2021 meeting of the American Astronomical Society.