CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Astronomers have detected an enormous radio jet streaming from a quasar dating back to the first billion years of the universe, making it the largest ever observed from such an early cosmic period.
According to a study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, the double-sided radio wave jet spans at least 200,000 light-years, which is approximately twice the width of the Milky Way galaxy. This discovery is significant as such radio jets, while common in the nearby universe, have remained elusive in the early cosmos due to interference from the cosmic microwave background—the radiation left over from the Big Bang.
“It’s only because this object is so extreme that we can observe it from Earth, even though it’s really far away,” said Anniek Gloudemans of the National Science Foundation’s NoirLab, the lead author of the study.
The quasar responsible for this massive jet was first discovered just a few years ago and is estimated to have formed when the universe was only 9% of its current age, approximately within the first 1.2 billion years after the Big Bang. Quasars, among the brightest objects in the universe, are the luminous cores of galaxies powered by supermassive black holes that consume gas and dust, releasing immense energy in the process.
Observatories across Europe, Hawaii, and Texas contributed to the findings, using advanced telescopes to capture this rare cosmic phenomenon. The quasar’s black hole is estimated to have a mass of 450 million times that of the Sun, yet it is not considered particularly massive compared to other quasars of similar brightness.
The detection of this radio jet challenges previous assumptions about the formation and evolution of quasars and black holes in the early universe. Scientists believe studying such powerful jets can provide crucial insights into how galaxies and black holes grew during the universe’s infancy.
With further advancements in radio astronomy and next-generation telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope, researchers hope to uncover even more about the mysterious, high-energy processes shaping the cosmos in its earliest stages.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
- Gary P Hernalhttps://tutubi.ph/author/gary-hernal/
- Gary P Hernalhttps://tutubi.ph/author/gary-hernal/
- Gary P Hernalhttps://tutubi.ph/author/gary-hernal/
- Gary P Hernalhttps://tutubi.ph/author/gary-hernal/
