Astronomers reveal the largest radio jet ever seen at the beginning of the universe

Although it is already known today that most galaxies have massive black holes in their centers and that these star abysses eventually expect matter jets, this is more common in our local universe (in the closest galaxies to Earth).

However, when scientists tried to observe very distant galaxies, that is, those that show what the primitive universe was like, these plasma flows were difficult to detect. At least, until recently.

According to a study Published in The Astrophysical Journal LettersA team of astronomers discovered the largest radio jet (beam of loaded particles) already found so soon in the history of the universe.

The “monstrous jet”, according to the study, has two lobes and extends for incredible 200 thousand light years the equivalent of two dairy copies. His Redshift (described by the study as close to five) puts him about 1 billion years after Big Bang.

The discovery of such a large structure at a time when the universe was still forming the current cosmological theory, which suggests that structures like this should grow gradually over billions of years.

How was the largest radio jet in the early universe detected?

“We were looking for quasars with strong radio jets in the primitive universe, which helps us understand how and when the first jets are formed and how they impact the evolution of galaxies,” said the first author of the article, Anniek Gloudemans, in a statement.

Gloudemans is a postdoctoral researcher at Noirlab, the US Astronomical Research Center that operates some of the most advanced optical and infrared observatories in the world.

The jet was first detected through the Low Frequency Array (Lofar) international telescope, a installation that replaced the traditional satellite antenna with a network of thousands of small radio antennas distributed throughout Europe.

Lofar is a state -of -the -art radiotelescope designed to observe the universe at low radio frequencies (long waves), Between 10 MHz and 240 MHz, which allow to study cosmic phenomena not visible in other ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum.

To paint the full board of the radio jet and the Quaar that produced it, the authors used infrared observations near the Gemini Near-Infred Spectrograph and also in the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Optic, both in the US.

What is the importance of discovering that J1601+3102?

Studying some properties such as Matter consumption is essential to understand the formation of quasars. These phenomena are visible manifestations of the energy released by the interaction between the black hole and the material around them.

Called J1601+3102, this one came when the universe was less than 1.2 billion years. With 450 million solar masses, it is not considered too large, but shows that it is capable of generating powerful jets.

For the authors, the lack of large radio jets in the primitive universe can be attributed to the noise of the Cosmic Microwave background, the remaining radiation of the Big Bang. But the extreme power of the J1601+3102, along with the lofar, allowed its detection.

Anyway, It was a huge surprise when the lofar began to show detailed and large radio structures contrary to the expectations of the researchers.

This showed that when operating in synergy with other instruments, the radiotelescope is highly effective in observing distant and extreme objects.

However, some questions still remain open about the conditions that have generated jets as powerful as those of the J1601+3102, or even how they arose in the universe.

See also: NASA Astronauts return to Earth after nine months

This content was originally published in astronomers reveal the largest radio jet ever seen at the beginning of the universe on the CNN Brazil website.

Source: CNN Brasil