Astroboffins spy on the most brilliant quasar that illuminated the dark ages of the universe • The Register

The light took only 13 billion years to reach us

An artist impression of a radio jet plume issued by a quasar. Photo Credit: Robin Dienel, Courtesy of Carnegie Institution for Science

According to research published in The Astrophysical Journal, scientists have spotted the brightest ancient quasars formed when the universe had less than a billion dollars. # 39; years.

known by his not very catchy name PSO J352.4034-15.3373 or P352-15, also launches huge plasma jets that appear extremely bright in radio telescopes. Scientists have been observing quasars for more than 50 years, but only 10% emit strong radiation.

Using Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) telescopes in New Mexico, a team of researchers detected light that circulates nearly 13 billion years to reach the Earth.

"There is a shortage of powerful radio transmitters known to the youth of the universe and it is the most brilliant radio quasar at this time of an order of magnitude," said Eduardo Bañados, the first author of the papers and a postdoctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon University

Quasars are extremely energetic and emit powerful rays of electromagnetic radiation fed by supermassive guzzling gas hungry for black holes. The surrounding material is scanned into an accretion disk that slowly winds up in a vacuum and, when it falls inward, the friction forces heat the disc up to torrid temperatures making it hot enough to emit X-radiation.

This is the first quasar to be seen with clear plumes of radio radiation known to have existed in the first billion years of the universe evolution. "It is the most detailed picture of a galaxy as brilliant at this distance, "said Emmanuel Momjian, first author of the second article and astronomer at the National Observatory of Radioastronomy.

They hope that the quasar is Will able to help other scientists to learn about the dark ages of the universe, a period of time not well understood. The universe began about 13.7 billion years ago after the Big Bang and began as a hot mixture of particles that began to cool.

After 800 million years after the Big Bang, the particles regrouped to form the first. elements and the first stars and galaxies. But before, there was no light.

"The throwing of this quasar could serve as an important calibration tool to help future projects penetrate into the dark ages and perhaps reveal how the first galaxies were created." ®

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