Astronomers Discover the Brightest Quasar in the Universe
Australian astronomers have made an incredible discovery, announcing that they have found a quasar that may be the brightest object in the universe. Named J0529-4351, this quasar is located about 12 billion light-years away from Earth and has a brightness that is 500 trillion times greater than that of the sun. It is powered by a black hole that is 17 billion times larger than the sun and is consuming a sun almost every day.
The lead researcher from Australian National University, Christian Wolf, described it as one of the most unstable places in the known universe. Although it is only visible as a small dot in the image, it is an extremely active area. The structure orbiting the quasar’s black hole is made up of bright swirls of gas and other material from stars that have been swallowed by the black hole, creating a scene resembling a cosmic hurricane.
The object was initially discovered in 1980 by the European Southern Observatory but was mistaken for a star at the time. It was only last year that observations from the Atacama Desert Telescope in Australia and Chile confirmed it was a quasar.
According to Priyamvada Natarajan, a professor at Yale University, what is exciting about this discovery is that the quasar has always existed before our eyes but was misclassified as a star.
Further analysis and computer simulations show that the quasar’s black hole is swallowing about 370 suns per year, or almost one sun every day. It is estimated to have a mass 1.7 to 1.9 billion times that of the sun.
This incredible discovery sheds new light on the mysterious and awe-inspiring phenomena of the universe. Scientists and researchers are eager to learn more about this extraordinary quasar and what it can teach us about the cosmos.
In other news, a man in Anhui discovered ancient bronze spears and swords while farming in the fields, providing fascinating insight into the region’s history during the Warring States Period. After turning over the items to the local Cultural Relics Protection Center, the man was rewarded and expressed his desire for future generations to have the opportunity to see these valuable artifacts.