Astronomers have identified the most distant known blazar, housing a supermassive black hole with a mass equivalent to 700 million suns. Named J0410-0139, this extraordinary black hole is the largest and most powerful discovered to date, located 12.9 billion light-years from Earth.
Blazars are a rare type of galaxy featuring supermassive black holes at their centers, which emit highly energetic jets directed towards Earth, making them some of the brightest objects in the universe. These jets are shaped by massive magnetic fields surrounding the black holes, with particles traveling near the speed of light, releasing substantial energy across the electromagnetic spectrum.
The discovery of J0410-0139 was made possible through advanced telescopes, including ALMA, the Magellan Telescope, the VLT, and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The data collected allowed scientists to examine the blazar's jets and the supermassive black hole at its core, providing crucial insights into the formation and evolution of such black holes.
This blazar emerged 800 million years after the Big Bang, opening new avenues for understanding the early universe. Its discovery offers significant information regarding the origins and development of black holes, as well as the formation of the universe's first stars and galaxies. This finding is expected to inspire further discoveries in astronomy and aid in unveiling the mysteries of cosmic evolution.