Scientists have unveiled a **quasar** that is producing a substantial radio jet in the depths of space, originating from an era in the early universe when such occurrences are notably infrequent.
**Quasars**, abbreviated from “quasi-stellar objects,” represent highly luminous galactic cores. Although they might look like stars when examined through high-powered telescopes, their brightness is actually the result of **supermassive black holes** devouring nearby material.
The recently discovered **radio jet**, extending over **200,000 light-years**—which is double the scale of the Milky Way—emanates from the quasar **J1601+3102**. This quasar came into existence less than **1.2 billion years following the Big Bang**, during a period when the universe was merely **9% of its present age** of 13.8 billion years.
“It’s solely due to the extraordinary nature of this object that we can detect it from Earth, despite its considerable distance,” stated **Anniek Gloudemans**, a research fellow at NOIRLab.
### An Uncommon Find
The **European Low Frequency Array Telescope** was the first to notice the radio jet of the quasar. Further observations were carried out utilizing the **Gemini North Telescope** in near-infrared light along with the **Hobby Eberly Telescope** in visible light. The results were discussed in a **new study** published in *The Astrophysical Journal Letters*.
Detecting such jets from the early universe poses difficulties because of the **cosmic microwave background**—the oldest light in the universe, which emerged **380,000 years after the Big Bang**. This ancient radiation frequently overshadows fainter signals, rendering these discoveries even more astonishing.
While identifying quasars in the early universe is challenging, even the nearest ones to Earth are still **hundreds of millions of light-years away**. Their scarcity in our cosmic vicinity indicates they are **ancient remnants**, providing crucial information about the formation of galaxies and the universe itself.
### The Enigma of Black Hole Jets
**Black holes** are among the most mysterious entities in space. Researchers theorize that they reside at the core of almost all galaxies, with gravitational attractions so intense that anything passing their event horizon is irretrievably lost.
Nonetheless, astronomers have detected an unexpected occurrence at the fringes of black holes’ **accretion disks**—the rotating bands of material spiraling toward the black hole. Occasionally, a minuscule portion of this matter is **redirected outward**, producing **powerful jets** that propel in opposing directions. The precise process driving this phenomenon remains unclear, as does the timeline of when these jets first manifested in cosmic history.
### A Modest Yet Noteworthy Jet
Despite its remarkable length, the **J1601+3102** jet is relatively small in comparison to others identified in later times. For example, the **Porphyrion** quasar, recorded **6.3 billion years post-Big Bang**, features a jet that spans **23 million light-years**.
Moreover, the **black hole** powering J1601+3102 has a mass of **450 million times that of the sun**—a considerable size, yet modest when compared to certain quasars that can be **billions of times more massive**.
“Interestingly, the quasar providing this substantial radio jet does not possess an extreme black hole mass relative to other quasars,” noted Gloudemans. “This implies that an exceptionally massive black hole or high accretion rate is not necessarily needed to produce such powerful jets in the early universe.”
This finding offers fresh insights into the development of quasars and black hole jets, aiding astronomers in piecing together the narrative of the cosmos.