The Euclid space telescope has discovered the two oldest quasars ever found, dating back to when the universe was just 670 million years old. These incredibly bright objects are powered by supermassive black holes and can shine trillions of times brighter than the sun. The discovery was made by an international team of astronomers using the European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope, which is stationed about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.
The team, led by Daming Yang, a PhD student at Leiden University in the Netherlands, found 31 quasars, including the two oldest, in a study published on Monday. The light from these quasars has been traveling through space for over 13 billion years, giving scientists a glimpse into the universe’s distant past. This discovery beats the previous record for the oldest quasar by about 20 million years.
Quasars and the Early Universe
Quasars are among the brightest objects in the universe, and studying them can provide valuable insights into the early universe. The newly discovered quasars date back to the epoch of reionization, a period when the first stars and galaxies began to form. By analyzing the light from these quasars, scientists can learn more about the gas between us and them, and how the universe was reionized.
The discovery of these ancient quasars also highlights a problem that has been puzzling scientists: how did galaxies and other cosmic objects become so massive so quickly? The quasars found by the Euclid telescope are among the most massive objects in the universe, weighing billions of times the mass of our sun. Scientists are still unsure how they grew so massive, so fast.
The Euclid telescope, launched in 2023, has been instrumental in the discovery of these ancient quasars. The telescope has doubled the number of known quasars in just two years, and its unique capabilities allow it to search for fainter light across huge areas of the sky. The James Webb space telescope has also observed the newly announced quasars, and scientists will soon begin analyzing the data.
Implications and Future Research
The discovery of these quasars has significant implications for our understanding of the universe. By studying these objects, scientists can learn more about the early universe and how it evolved over time. The team behind the discovery hopes to find even older quasars, which could provide valuable insights into the universe’s infancy. The Euclid telescope will continue to image the sky over the next six years, monitoring galaxies and galaxy clusters dating back 10 billion years.
The discovery of these ancient quasars is a significant step forward in our understanding of the universe. As scientists continue to study these objects, they may uncover new clues about the universe’s mysterious past and the formation of galaxies and stars. The Euclid telescope’s findings have the potential to revolutionize our understanding of the cosmos, and its continued research will likely lead to new and exciting discoveries.
