quasar

Latest about quasar

A diagram showing six copies of a quasar annotated with lines and letters

James Webb telescope uncovers 1st-ever 'Einstein zig-zag' hiding in plain sight — and it could help save cosmology

By Harry Baker published

A new JWST study has revealed the true origins of a luminous quasar that has been duplicated six times as its light "zig-zags" through space-time via a phenomenon first predicted by Albert Einstein. The unusual light show could help tackle one of cosmology's biggest problems, experts claim.

Cosmology
An artist's rendering of a black hole

'Webb has shown us they are clearly wrong': How astrophysicist Sophie Koudmani's research on supermassive black holes is rewriting the history of our universe

By Ben Turner published

How did supermassive black holes get big so fast? Astrophysicist Souphie Koudmani tells us how she and her colleagues are finding out.

Black Holes
An artist's illustration of Porphyrion shows the gigantic jet stretching across the tendrils of the cosmic web.

Biggest black hole jets ever seen are as long as 140 Milky Ways

By Ben Turner published

The largest-ever black hole jets ever seen hint that these cosmic monsters may play an even more significant role in shaping galaxies than previously thought.

Black Holes
A swirling orange and red disc with a black sphere at its center with a widing white line emerging from it. A black box with pixelated red, green and white shapes within it

James Webb Space Telescope sees an ancient black hole dance with colliding galaxies

By Robert Lea published

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have witnessed the dramatic dance between a supermassive black hole-powered quasar and merging galaxies less than a billion years after the Big Bang.

Black Holes
A blurry image showing a multicolored flash of light

James Webb telescope spies bejeweled 'Einstein ring' made of warped quasar light

By Harry Baker published

New photos from the James Webb Space Telescope show off the bewitching beauty of the warped quasar RX J1131-1231, which is adorned with four bright spots birthed by mind-bending space-time trickery.

Cosmology
This zoomed-in view of a portion of the all-sky survey from NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer shows a collection of quasar candidates shown in yellow circles.

Scientists reveal largest map of the universe's active supermassive black holes ever created

By Patrick Pester published

A massive new 3D map of space includes more than 1 million supermassive black hole-powered quasars, which are among the brightest objects in the universe.

Black Holes
An artist's impression of a quasar

Brightest black hole ever discovered devours a sun's-worth of matter every day

By Ben Turner published

A distant quasar that was initially mistaken for a star is actually one of the brightest and fastest-growing black holes ever seen.

Space
A galaxy grouping called Stephan’s Quintet, which contains an imposter galaxy that is actually much closer to Earth than the others.

An ancient, ravenous black hole has been hiding an 11-billion-year-old galaxy in its glare

By Robert Lea published

A team of astronomers has used a tricky technique to study an ancient galaxy previously lost in the glare of a blazing quasar.

Black Holes
An fire hot ball appears in an image of a quasar taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

What is the hottest place in the universe?

By Kiley Price published

The hottest spot in the universe may well be near the edges of a supermassive black hole.

Space
A bright, orange circle in the center of a ring of light. Four bright white spots form a cross shape on the circle's perimeter

Rare 'Einstein cross' warps light from one of the universe's brightest objects in this stunning image

By Ben Turner published

Einstein predicted the existence of these crosses back in 1915. Now, they are used to study distant galaxies.

Gravity
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