All articles tagged with #quasars
Seven enigmatic cosmic objects—magnetars with extreme magnetic fields, the mysterious Odd Radio Circles, rogue planets drifting through interstellar space, the Boomerang Nebula’s record-low temperature, bright quasars at galactic centers, a brown dwarf potentially hosting its first moon, and blazars with jets aimed toward Earth—illustrate how the universe continually defies simple explanations and invites new discoveries.
Astronomers using a radio telescope array that stretches from Earth toward the Moon, including the RadioAstron satellite, captured the first image of two supermassive black holes orbiting each other in the quasar OJ287 (18 billion and 150 million solar masses, 12-year period). The system’s disk-crossing bursts, revealed by high-resolution radio imaging, mark a milestone in black-hole physics and radio astronomy, with future gravitational-wave studies expected from the eLisa mission in the 2030s.
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.
The European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope has spotted 31 newly identified quasars dating to the universe's first 770 million years, including the two oldest known at redshifts 7.77 and 7.69, each radiating about a trillion suns. The discoveries, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, double the number of quasars known from that era and shed light on how supermassive black holes formed so rapidly after the Big Bang. Euclid's wide-field survey will uncover hundreds more, helping create the largest 3D map of the universe and revealing how early galaxies and black holes evolved.
Astronomers report a distant quasar named J2318 powered by a 1.7-billion-solar-mass black hole emitting radiation-driven winds in ultraviolet light at speeds up to 0.3 times the speed of light—the fastest ultraviolet outflow observed. These extreme winds carry so much energy that they could push away gas and dust from the host galaxy, potentially quenching star formation and influencing galaxy evolution. The findings, derived from SDSS observations, were published in The Astrophysical Journal.
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope found that one of the universe’s brightest quasars appears to quench star formation not only in its host galaxy but also in neighboring galaxies within about a million light-years. The study of quasar J0100+2802 showed reduced ionized oxygen in nearby galaxies, indicating suppressed star birth likely caused by intense radiation and outflows from the active supermassive black hole, suggesting a galactic “ecosystem” where massive black holes influence galaxy evolution beyond their own hosts, especially in the early universe.
An international team of astronomers has found evidence suggesting that the relationship between ultraviolet and X-ray emissions in quasars has evolved over billions of years, challenging the long-standing assumption of its universality and potentially impacting cosmological models. Using data from eROSITA and XMM-Newton, they observed differences in this relationship in quasars from the early universe compared to the present day, which could influence our understanding of black hole growth and the universe's expansion.
Recent research suggests that the relationship between ultraviolet and X-ray emissions in quasars has changed over billions of years, challenging long-held assumptions about the uniformity of matter surrounding supermassive black holes and impacting methods used to study the universe's structure and evolution.
Astronomers have discovered 53 new giant radio quasars powered by supermassive black holes, with jets extending up to 7.2 million light-years, providing insights into galaxy evolution and the intergalactic medium, especially in denser cosmic environments.
Earth's days are slightly getting shorter due to factors like atmospheric winds, ocean currents, Earth's internal movements, and lunar gravitational pull, with the shortest day on August 5, 2025, measuring just 86,399.99867 seconds. These tiny variations, measurable with precise instruments like atomic clocks and quasars, impact systems like GPS and are influenced by both short-term weather patterns and long-term geophysical processes.
Using the Subaru Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers discovered seven dust-shrouded supermassive black hole-powered quasars from when the universe was less than a billion years old, suggesting that such quasars may be twice as common during Cosmic Dawn as previously thought.
Astronomers from Seoul National University and others have discovered 62 new luminous quasars using the AllBRICQS survey, which utilizes WISE and Gaia data to identify bright quasars. These quasars, with redshifts between 0.09 and 2.48 and extremely high luminosities, include rare objects like the most luminous iron low-ionization broad absorption line quasar to date, providing valuable resources for studying black hole growth and galaxy evolution.
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered a new population of 'hidden' supermassive black holes in the early universe, bridging the gap between classical quasars and the faint 'Little Red Dots,' and providing new insights into galaxy evolution and black hole growth during the first billion years after the Big Bang.
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered a new, previously unseen type of supermassive black hole activity in the early universe, bridging the gap between classical quasars and faint, dust-obscured objects called Little Red Dots, which may represent baby quasars. This finding suggests that many active black holes in the early universe have been overlooked and provides new insights into galaxy evolution and black hole growth.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured detailed images of the quasar 3C 273, revealing complex structures and energetic jets near its supermassive black hole. These observations provide new insights into the mechanics of quasars and their galactic environments. Quasars, like 3C 273, are powered by supermassive black holes consuming surrounding material, and are crucial for understanding galaxy formation and evolution. The Hubble's advanced imaging capabilities have allowed astronomers to study these phenomena in unprecedented detail, paving the way for future research with instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope.