NASA discovers ultra-rare 'double quasar' about to collide into an unbelievably massive black hole

[Judi Lynn]

By Joanna Thompson published about 10 hours ago

A rare double quasar system 10 billion light-years away could help astronomers uncover the secrets of the early universe.



An artist's illustration of two brilliant blue quasars about to collide in the early universe. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI))


After 33 years, the Hubble Space Telescope is still uncovering new cosmic surprises. The venerable instrument recently added to its extensive catalog of finds when it spotted a rare double quasar blazing away in the distant reaches of the universe.

Researchers published a paper detailing the discovery on April 5 in the journal Nature(opens in new tab).

Quasars are among the brightest objects in the universe, emitting more light than the entire Milky Way. They form when gas, dust and other bits of matter fall into a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy, according to the European Space Agency. Some of these particles become extremely luminous as they accelerate to near-light speed, thanks to friction and the massive gravity exerted on them by the black hole.

In addition to being bright, quasars tend to be very old; it takes a long time to gobble up enough matter to become so gargantuan. The newly discovered quasar pair is no exception: They appear to have formed around 10 billion years ago. Scientists theorize that such objects were hallmarks of the early universe. But the twin nature of these objects makes them particularly exciting.



More:
https://www.livescience.com/space/black-holes/nasa-discovers-ultra-rare-double-quasar-about-to-collide-into-an-unbelievably-massive-black-hole

[Igel]

1. Ferb, I know what I'm doing in 301 days!

I teach astronomy.

I get to talk cosmology and early universe, gravitational lensing, black holes, quasars ... All at once!

(Seriously. Every HS is pushing literacy on their science teachers. Fiction? Meh. Non-fiction? "What? Every sentence is important and I can't skip pages?" Had one student struggle with 3 pages for 45 minutes--every word except "a" in paragraph 1 of 4 was highlighted. "How far have you gotten?" "I don't understand the first paragraph." "Have you looked up definitions?" "Why? I was told to just figure out the meaning from context--but I don't understand the context." And I feel an enormous urge to garrot English teachers. "Look up defintions for words you don't understand." "Where?" "The reading is online. Maybe the Internet?" "Oh. You can do that?" And I seriously want my Glock, currently 1200 miles away from me in my brother's gun safe, the one my father used in *his* suicide. "Yes, you can do that." And I have to go into the hall and beat my forehead against the wall. They're *seniors*!)