Euclid Discovers 31 Ancient Quasars, Revealing Fast-Growing Black Holes in the Early Cosmos
TL;DR
ESA’s Euclid space telescope found 31 ancient quasars dating to redshift 6.6–7.8, including two record-holders at z=7.77 and z=7.69, making them the oldest seen. Each hosts a billion-solar-mass black hole, existing when the universe was under a billion years old. The haul doubles the known number of such quasars and demonstrates Euclid’s unexpected capability to census the early cosmos, though how these enormous black holes formed so quickly remains a major puzzle. This is just the first major result from a six-year survey that could uncover many more distant quasars.
- In July 2026, Europe's Euclid telescope found 31 of the oldest quasars ever seen, two now shining with the light of a trillion suns when the cosmos was just 5 percent of its present age — their glow 13 billion years in the coming Space Daily
- Scientists have discovered the oldest quasar ever seen, and it shines with the light of a trillion suns Space
- Ancient quasars add to a 'major unsolved problem' in astrophysics Reuters
- ESA’s Euclid Space Telescope Finds Universe’s Most Ancient Quasars NASA Science (.gov)
- Astronomers have found 31 of the oldest known quasars burning so soon after the Big Bang that current models struggle to explain how their black holes grew massive enough to power them in the time available ScienceBlog.com
Want the full story? Read the original reporting
Read on Space Daily