Scientists have made a remarkable discovery with the identification of a distant quasar, which may help illuminate the enigmatic period known as the universe's "dark ages." Researchers from Yale University unveiled their findings on January 14 at the winter meeting of the American Astronomical Society. The quasar, designated J1429+5447, was detected using NASA's NuSTAR X-ray space telescope and is among the most distant and variable quasars ever observed.
According to Lea Marcotulli, the lead author of the study and postdoctoral fellow at Yale, "We have discovered this quasar is very likely to be a supermassive black hole with a jet pointed toward Earth — and we are seeing it in the first billion years of the universe.” This discovery sheds light on how some supermassive black holes might have formed and grown rapidly during the early years following the Big Bang.
Quasars are extraordinarily significant as they provide insight about the early universe. Formed from active galactic nuclei, quasars emit immense electromagnetic radiation identifiable across various wavelengths from radio to gamma-ray. They serve as useful references for astronomers attempting to decode cosmic evolution and structure.
One pivotal aspect explored is the epoch of reionization, which occurred less than one billion years post-Big Bang. This period is believed to mark the end of the universe's dark ages, where neutral hydrogen atoms were ionized, allowing the first stars to emerge. Thomas Connor, astronomer at the Chandra X-Ray Center and co-corresponding author of the study, remarked, "The epoch of reionization is considered the end of the universe’s dark ages. The precise timeline and source class responsible for reionization are still debated, and actively accreting supermassive black holes are one proposed culprit.”
The research team used comparative observations between the NuSTAR and Chandra X-ray telescopes to assess the quasar's behavior. They noted extreme variability, showing the quasar's X-ray emissions had more than doubled over the observation period of just four months—what appears to be only two weeks for the quasar itself due to the relativistic effects.
Meg Urry, the Israel Munson Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Yale, emphasized, "This level of X-ray variability, in terms of intensity and rapidity, is extreme. It is almost certainly explained by jets pointing toward us – with particles being propelled up to millions of light-years from the central black hole. Because the jet moves at nearly the speed of light, effects of Einstein’s theory of special relativity speed up and amplify the variability.”
The researchers contend their findings may guide astronomers toward identifying additional supermassive black holes from the early universe. They are hopeful of finding more examples hosting jets, which raises significant questions about how these black holes could have achieved their massive sizes within such limited timeframes.”
Through the insight gained from observations of quasar J1429+5447, scientists have opened new avenues of research to understand the growth of black holes and the conditions of the early universe more thoroughly. Future studies will benefit from these groundbreaking observations as the quest to unravel cosmic mysteries continues.