Astronomers have discovered a supermassive black hole, dubbed J0410−0139, that’s shooting a giant energy beam directly at Earth. Located 12.9 billion light-years from our planet, this blazar is the oldest of its kind ever seen and challenges our understanding of the early universe.
The newly found “blazar” has a mass equal to 700 million suns, making it one of the most massive black holes discovered. Radio waves from this behemoth traveled over 12 billion light-years to reach us, breaking the previous record for the most distant blazar.
Researchers used data from multiple telescopes in Chile and NASA’s Chandra observatory to detect J0410−0139. The alignment of its jet with our line of sight allows scientists to study the interplay between jets, black holes, and their environments during one of the universe’s most transformative epochs.
The discovery hints that many other supermassive black holes existed at this point in cosmic history, but either had no jets or beamed their radiation away from Earth. The finding suggests that there must have been many more quasars like J0410−0139, which could provide valuable insights into the evolution of these galactic nuclei.
The researchers are now on the hunt for more blazars from this time period and are confident they will find some. With this discovery, scientists can learn more about how supermassive black holes took shape and have evolved over billions of years.
Source: https://www.livescience.com/space/black-holes/supermassive-black-hole-spotted-12-9-billion-light-years-from-earth-and-its-shooting-a-beam-of-energy-right-at-us