Euclid discovers the most ancient quasars in the universe : GS TIMES IAS-PCS

The European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope has discovered 31 of the most ancient quasars ever detected.

Among them are two of the earliest known quasars, observed from a time when the Universe was only about 670 million years old, approximately 5% of its present age.
These primordial quasars emitted light equivalent to around one trillion Suns, making them among the brightest objects in the early Universe.
The discovery will help astronomers better understand the formation and rapid growth of supermassive black holes and the evolution of galaxies in the early cosmos.

What is a Quasar?

A quasar (Quasi-Stellar Object or QSO) is the extremely luminous central region of a distant galaxy, powered by a supermassive black hole actively accreting matter.
As enormous quantities of gas and dust spiral into the black hole through an accretion disk, gravitational energy is converted into radiation, producing tremendous amounts of light and energy.
During this active phase, the galaxy’s nucleus can become hundreds to thousands of times brighter than the rest of its host galaxy.
Quasars are among the brightest and most energetic objects in the Universe and can be observed across billions of light-years.
Luminosities range from 10 to 100,000 times that of the Milky Way.
A quasar is a type of Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN).
All quasars are AGNs, because they contain actively accreting supermassive black holes.
However, not all AGNs are quasars, as many active galactic nuclei are less luminous and do not reach the extraordinary brightness characteristic of quasars.

Source: TH & NASA

Euclid discovers the most ancient quasars in the universe