DOE/Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Shown here is the elliptical galaxy NGC 474 with star shells. Elliptical galaxies are characterized by their relatively smooth appearance as compared with spiral galaxies, one of which is to the left of NGC 474, which is oriented with South to the top and West to the left. The colorful neighboring spiral (NGC 470) has characteristic flocculent structure interwoven with dust lanes and spiral arms. NGC 474 is at a distance of about 31 megaparsecs (100 million light-years) from the sun in the constellation of Pisces. The region surrounding NGC 474 shows unusual structures characterized as tidal tails or shells of stars made up of hundreds of millions of stars. These features are likely due to recent (within the last billion years) mergers of smaller galaxies into the main body of NGC 474 or close passages of nearby galaxies, such as the NGC 470 spiral. For coordinate information, visit the NOIRLab webpage for this photo. (Photo: DES/NOIRLab
Astronomers have observed a luminous quasar 13.03 billion light-years from Earth the most distant quasar discovered to date.
Dating back to 670 million years after the Big Bang, when the universe was only 5% its current age, the quasar hosts a supermassive black hole equivalent to the combined mass of 1.6 billion suns.
In addition to being the most distant and by extension, earliest quasar known, the object is the first of its kind to show evidence of an outflowing wind of super-heated gas escaping from the surroundings of the black hole at a fifth of the speed of light.
In addition to revealing a strong quasar-driven wind, the new observations also show intense star formation activity in the host galaxy where the quasar, formally designated J0313-1806, is located.
Astronomers discover oldest, most distant quasar and supermassive black hole 13 billion light years away By Sophie Lewis Smithsonian artifacts: The first black hole photograph
Lurking in a distant region of space, more than 13 billion light years away, is a luminous quasar fueled by a supermassive black hole 1.6 billion times more massive than the sun. Astronomers recently spotted the galactic beast, marking the oldest one of its kind.
The ancient quasar, defined as a bright, massive, remote active galactic nucleus emitting huge amounts of energy, has been dubbed J0313-1806 by an international team, led by researchers at the University of Arizona. It dates back to an astounding 670 million years after the Big Bang when the infant universe was just 5% of its current age.
IMAGE:
Elliptical galaxies are generally characterized by their relatively smooth appearance when compared with spiral galaxies (one of which is to the left) which have more flocculent structure interwoven with dust. view more
Credit: DES/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/DOE/AURA
Acknowledgments: Image processing: DES, Jen Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF s NOIRLab), Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin
The Dark Energy Survey has released a massive, public collection of astronomical data and calibrated images from six years of work. Containing data on nearly 700 million astronomical objects, this second data release in the Survey s seven-year history is the topic of sessions today and tomorrow at the 237th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society.[1]