Astronomers have discovered a massive radio jet streaming out of an ancient quasar, the largest ever detected so early in the universe’s history. Telescopes worldwide have observed this phenomenon, which is double the width of our Milky Way galaxy.
The discovery was made possible due to recent advancements in technology that allowed scientists to penetrate the obscuring cosmic microwave background left over from the Big Bang. Radio jets like this are not uncommon in our cosmic neighborhood, but they were previously elusive because of their distance and the covering radiation.
According to lead author Anniek Gloudemans, “It’s only because this object is so extreme that we can observe it from Earth, even though it’s really far away.” The quasar involved in this study, J1601+3102, is relatively small, weighing about 450 million times the mass of our sun.
The massive radio jet is estimated to be at least 200,000 light-years across, which is equivalent to approximately 1.14 trillion miles. This discovery provides valuable insights into the extreme environments found in ancient quasars and sheds light on their role in shaping the universe as we know it today.
Source: https://www.fox13news.com/news/telescopes-spot-monster-radio-jet-streaming-from-ancient-quasar