Twice as long as our galaxy. Largest black hole jet ever seen in the Universe discovered
Telescopes have detected the largest black hole jet ever seen in the early Universe. This jet of radio waves is twice the width of our Milky Way galaxy.
The monster jet comes from a quasar dating back to the first billion years of the Universe's existence. And it stretches for at least an incredible 200,000 light-years, Space.com writes.
According to scientists, it is also surprising that the black hole that feeds the quasar from which this jet is coming is relatively small.
The largest radio jet was recorded by many telescopes
Source: M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)
"Interestingly, the quasar that powers this massive radio jet does not have an extreme black hole mass compared to other quasars," said team leader and NOIRLab researcher Anniek Gloudemans.
"This indicates that an extremely massive black hole or accretion rate is not necessarily required to create such powerful jets in the early Universe," the scientist added.
According to scientists, one of the brightest objects in the Universe, quasars are galactic nuclei with gas and dust that fall into a black hole, releasing huge amounts of energy, making them extremely bright.
Illustration of a supermassive black hole in the early cosmos emitting jets.
Source: Robert Lee
The researchers emphasize that such jets have been elusive in the distant early Universe – until now – because of the darkened cosmic microwave background left over from the Big Bang, AP writes.
"It is only because this object is so extreme that we can observe it from Earth, even if it is very far away," Gloudemans explained.
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