Astronomers have found a new record quasar in space.
Its black hole exceeds previous expectations.
There is only one explanation.
Arizona - A New Record: Researchers at the University of Arizona have discovered a new quasar.
It is the most distant and oldest core of a galaxy that has been discovered so far.
In astronomy, quasars are the cores of a galaxy.
But it poses challenges for astronomers.
He completely rules out two previously accepted theories.
Discovery in space: black hole has unimagined size - comparisons are astounding
The quasar discovered by the astronomers is said to have been formed
670 million years after the Big Bang
.
In comparison, our life today is around 13.8 billion years after the Big Bang.
They consist of a rotating disk of luminous matter that envelops a supermassive black hole.
It is precisely this that puzzles the researchers in this case.
The black hole of the
quasar,
13.3 light years away
(for comparison: one light second is around 300,000 km), is larger than previous discoveries and twice as large as the previous record holder, which was discovered in 2018.
It has a mass of
1.6 billion solar masses
and takes up about 25 solar masses of matter every year.
Discovery in space: black hole creates question marks - general explanations fail
What is special about this black hole?
A general explanation for the formation of black holes is that they are created by supernovae, exploding stars at the end of their life.
But it takes many life cycles for such a massive black hole to develop, as has now been discovered.
The early formation of the quasar does not fit together with this.
Calculations based on proven theories showed that the black hole should have a mass of around 10,000 solar masses (reality: 1.6 billion solar masses).
"That tells you that no matter what you do, the core of the black hole must have been formed by a different mechanism," says the astronomer Xiaohui Fan. The discovery thus already rules out two common theories about the origin of the holes in astronomy.
"In this case, it is a case in which large amounts of originally, cold hydrogen gas collapsed directly to the core of the black hole," says Fan. It is the only model that makes sense.
+
Quasars are the core of a galaxy with a black hole in the middle.
© Schöning / Imago
Discovery in space: black hole could provide insights into early space
The new record quasar can provide new insights into the formation of black holes in the early universe.
Discoveries that were previously not possible.
“We have never seen these processes so early in the universe,” says astronomer Feige Wang.
And the journey is not over yet.
The researchers expect to find more record-breaking quasars.
“Our quasar research covers a very wide field, so we can scan almost half of the sky.
We have selected other candidates to make observations, ”said Jinyi Yang, one of the researchers.
And the new discovery is not at the end of its journey either.
The galaxy is still growing - 200 times as fast as the Milky Way.
(chd)
List of rubric lists: © Schöning / Imago
