Astronomers Identify Record-breaking Quasar | European Southern Observatory
Astronomers have characterized the most luminous quasar observed to date. It is powered by the fastest-growing black hole. This black hole is growing in mass by the equivalent of one Sun per day. The matter being pulled in toward this black hole forms a disc that measures seven light-years in diameter—about 15,000 times the distance from the Sun to the orbit of Neptune.
“We have discovered the fastest-growing black hole known to date. It has a mass of 17 billion Suns, and eats just over a Sun per day. This makes it the most luminous object in the known Universe,” says Christian Wolf, an astronomer at the Australian National University (ANU) and lead author of the study published today in Nature Astronomy. The quasar, called J0529-4351, is so far away from Earth that its light took over 12 billion years to reach us.
Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Directed by: Angelos Tsaousis and Martin Wallner
Editing: Angelos Tsaousis
Web and technical support: Gurvan Bazin and Raquel Yumi Shida
Written by: Pamela Freeman and Elena Reiriz Martínez
Footage and photos: ESO / Martin Kornmesser, Luis Calçada, Angelos Tsaousis, Cristoph Malin, Dark Energy Survey
Scientific consultant: Paola Amico, Mariya Lyubenova.
Duration: 1 minute, 11 seconds
Release Date: Feb. 19, 2024
#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Quasars #Quasar #J05294351 #BlackHoles #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #VLT #AtacamaDesert #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video
ReplyDelete* J0529-4351
If this object, J0529-4351, lay 12 billion light years away and 12 billion years in the past.... what is an object like this have for a life span? Plain speaking, "where's it at now?" Does it pop or eveaporate or what?
Short answer: "Unknown."
ReplyDelete"Like stars, Quasars won’t last forever. They live for a period of time, and then eventually die.
However, quasars can grow very old, and they make up some of the oldest objects in our universe."