Astronomers have discovered the largest black hole jet ever observed in the early universe, using a continent-sized radio telescope. The jet, which spans 200,000 light-years, is twice as wide as the Milky Way and was detected at an age of less than 1.2 billion years old.
The discovery was made by Anniek Gloudemans and her team, who used all 51 antennae of the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) to create a massive radio telescope. The resulting image confirmed the size of the jet, revealing a northern lobe at 29,358 light-years from the quasar and a southern blob spanning 186,954 light-years.
The discovery sheds new light on black hole jets, which are powered by gas and dust accretion around black holes. In the early universe, such jets were thought to be difficult to detect due to intense cosmic microwave background radiation. However, this extreme jet was detected despite being far away.
The finding suggests that powerful jets can be generated by relatively lightweight black holes, contradicting previous assumptions about their mass and accretion rates. This discovery provides valuable insights into the early evolution of galaxies and the role of black hole jets in shaping their structure.
Future observations are expected to reveal more extended radio jets in the early universe, offering a new window into the formation and growth of these cosmic objects. The newly discovered jet is set to become a “cosmic laboratory” for studying how black hole jets influence galaxy evolution.
Source: https://www.livescience.com/space/black-holes/we-were-amazed-astronomers-discover-oldest-biggest-black-hole-jet-in-the-known-universe-and-there-may-be-more