The two most distant quasars ever observed: U of A astronomers help shatter cosmic record
Quasars – shown here in an artist's impression – are among the brightest, most energetic objects in the universe, powered by supermassive black holes.
European Space Agency
An international team of astronomers, including a team at the University of Arizona Steward Observatory, announced the discovery of 31 quasars from a time when the universe was just 600 to 800 million years old – a mere 5% of its current age. Quasars are among the brightest, most energetic objects in the universe, powered by supermassive black holes devouring matter at the center of galaxies.
"The quasars presented in this paper are fainter, less luminous, and have somewhat lower-mass black holes than the ones that we discovered before," said Xiaohui Fan, Regents Professor of Astronomy at the U of A Steward Observatory. "Having a space telescope like Euclid dedicated to this purpose allows us to hunt for the smaller, less luminous ones that we weren't able to go after before."