Recent Discovery of Quasars

Why in News?

Recently, an international team of astronomers using the European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope has discovered 31 quasars.

• Quasars – Quasars are the intensely luminous cores of distant galaxies powered by supermassive black holes.
• Brightness – Shine with the light of a trillion suns due to gravitational energy converted into radiation.
• Observation – Provide insights into early galaxy formation, black hole growth, and the epoch of reionisation (end of cosmic dark ages).

Key Findings

• Oldest Pair – 2 oldest ever quasars were observed, dating back to when the universe was just 670 million years old (5% of its current age).
• Scale – Supermassive black holes weighing billions of solar masses existed in the infancy of the universe.
• Mystery – Raises questions about how such massive objects grew so quickly.
• Euclid’s Role – Launched in 2023, Euclid has doubled the number of discoveries of ancient quasars for 2 years.

Significance

• Epoch of Reionisation – Quasars act as “lighthouses” to trace how the universe transitioned from dark ages to ionised state.
• Cosmic Puzzle – Galaxies and quasars appear far bigger and more evolved than expected at such early times.
• Future Goal – Build a quasar chronicle of the first billion years to understand black hole and galaxy evolution.

Reference

The Hindu | Quasar