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Space
Space
Science
Robert Lea

Scientists have discovered the oldest quasar ever seen, and it shines with the light of a trillion suns

ESA Quasar Sun Euclid Black Hole the Big Bang Universe European Space Agency
(Background)Ancient quasars discovered by Euclid. (Foreground) An illustration of a quasar.

Using the European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope, astronomers have discovered a treasure trove of 31 black-hole-powered quasars in the early universe. The most impressive of these new discoveries is the most ancient and distant quasar ever seen, shining with the light of a trillion suns just 670 million years after the Big Bang.

Quasars occur when supermassive black holes with masses millions or even billions of times that of the sun are surrounded by swirling disks of matter called accretion disks. As accretion disks gradually feed these central cosmic titans, the immense gravity of the black holes generates intense friction, causing this matter to glow so brightly that their luminosity can exceed the combined light of every star in their host galaxies.

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