The universe continues to unveil its mysteries as astronomers have identified the earliest known flickering quasar, a luminous entity powered by a supermassive black hole that existed just 850 million years after the Big Bang. This discovery has provided unexpected insights into the structure of the black hole's accretion disk, revealing it to be more stable than previously anticipated for such an early cosmic age.
Understanding Quasars
Quasars are among the most brilliant objects in the universe, formed when a supermassive black hole consumes material at an incredible rate. This process generates immense energy, allowing quasars to outshine all the stars in their host galaxies. Their light travels billions of years to reach Earth, offering astronomers a glimpse into the universe's distant past, enabling the study of early galaxies and the rapid growth of supermassive black holes.
"Without supermassive black holes, no galaxy would look the way it does today," stated Anna-Christina Eilers, an assistant professor of physics at MIT.
The Discovery of J0439+1634
The quasar in question, designated J0439+1634, emits light from approximately 850 million years post-Big Bang and sits at a redshift of 6.51. It harbors a black hole roughly 630 million times the mass of our sun. Researchers uncovered this flickering phenomenon by reanalyzing archival data from NASA's NEOWISE mission, which has been scanning the sky for 14 years, in conjunction with data from the Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories.
"Flickering caused by gas falling into a supermassive black hole is one of the best ways to study the mechanisms by which black holes grow in size," remarked Kishalay De, an assistant professor at Columbia University. The quasar exhibited a notable increase in brightness in infrared light around 2016, peaking in 2021, with its X-ray emissions rising sharply during this period.
This observation unveiled a surprising characteristic: the quasar's accretion disk appeared thin and flat, resembling disks around older quasars, contrary to expectations that a young, rapidly growing black hole would have a more chaotic disk structure.
Implications for Black Hole Growth
This discovery may shed light on one of the most perplexing questions in astronomy: how did supermassive black holes grow so quickly? J0439+1634 suggests that some early black holes might have transitioned through their most vigorous growth phases before being observed as luminous quasars.
Furthermore, the flickering of quasars could serve as a valuable tool for studying black holes in the early universe. By monitoring brightness variations, astronomers can investigate the shape of the accretion disk and potentially measure black hole masses more accurately.
As researchers aim to find more early flickering quasars, upcoming surveys from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope may expand our understanding of these cosmic giants, paving the way for a deeper exploration of the universe's formative years.
This study was published in the journal Nature Astronomy.