Gemini Observatory: Most distant Quasar

Artist's conception of how the quasar would appear close up. 

The very hot extremely luminous quasar at the center of the image is very bright at ultraviolet wavelengths, and light from the quasar ionizes the surrounding gas, producing the red color that is characteristic of ionized hydrogen.

Faint compact galaxies that have just been born appear in the background. 

The galaxies' hot stars also ionize their surroundings, but only in the immediate vicinity as they are far less luminous than the quasar which can ionize over a much larger volume. Image Credit: Gemini Observatory/AURA by Lynette Cook

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An international team of astronomers announced today the discovery of the most distant known supermassive black hole, seen as a luminous quasar caused by gas falling into the black hole.

The discovery came to light using data from an ongoing infrared sky survey being conducted at the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) and critical follow-up confirmation observations with the Gemini North telescope, both on Mauna Kea in Hawai'i. The results are presented in the June 30, 2011 issue of the Journal Nature.

The light from the quasar started its journey toward us when the universe was only 6% of its present age, a mere 770 million years after the Big Bang, at a redshift of about 7.1. "This gives astronomers a headache," says lead author Daniel Mortlock, from Imperial College London.

"It's difficult to understand how a black hole a billion times more massive than the Sun can have grown so early in the history of the universe. It's like rolling a snowball down the hill and suddenly you find that it's 20 feet across!"

However, as well as being a headache, the new quasar is a great opportunity, because it allows scientists to measure the conditions in the gas that the quasar's light passes through on its way to us. "What is particularly important about this source is how bright it is," says Mortlock.

"It's hundreds of times brighter than anything else yet discovered at such a great distance. This means that we can use it to tell us for the first time what conditions were like in the early universe."