![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/05\/eso1122a-7edd87f-e1680768367859.jpeg?quality=90&resize=620%2C368"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Quasars and the early Universe<\/strong><\/h2>\nQuasars are cosmic objects that shine with the power of over 100 billion stars.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re powered by supermassive black holes<\/a> consuming cosmic gas and dust, which gets heated to high temperatures and emits a powerful yet fleeting signal.<\/p>\nQuasars\u2019 powerful energy is what enabled astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope<\/a> and a fleet of other space and ground-based telescopes to find this particular pair, which are so far away we\u2019re seeing them as they existed when the Universe was just 3 billion years old.<\/p>\n\u201cWe don\u2019t see a lot of double quasars at this early time in the Universe. And that\u2019s why this discovery is so exciting,\u201d says Yu-Ching Chen of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign<\/a>, lead author of the study, which appears in the Nature<\/a> journal.<\/p>\n\u201cWe\u2019re starting to unveil this tip of the iceberg of the early binary quasar population,\u201d says Xin Liu of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the uniqueness of this study. It is actually telling us that this population exists, and now we have a method to identify double quasars that are separated by less than the size of a single galaxy.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> A Hubble Space Telescope image of the pair of quasars, which existed when the universe was just 3 billion years old. Dual quasar J0749+2255 is embedded inside a pair of colliding galaxies. Credit: NASA, ESA, Yu-Ching Chen (UIUC), Hsiang-Chih Hwang (IAS), Nadia Zakamska (JHU), Yue Shen (UIUC)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nA fleet of telescopes<\/strong><\/h2>\nIn order to find the quasar duo, the team used an array of humanity\u2019s most powerful observatories, including the Hubble Space Telescope, the W.M. Keck Observatory and Gemini Observatory in Hawaii, NSF\u2019s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array in New Mexico and the space-based Chandra X-ray Observatory.<\/p>\n
The European Space Agency\u2019s Gaia<\/a> space observatory helped identify this double quasar in the first place.<\/p>\n\u201cHubble\u2019s sensitivity and resolution provided pictures that allow us to rule out other possibilities for what we are seeing,\u201d says Chen.<\/p>\n
The team note that Hubble, for example, was able to rule out the possibility that this was actually one quasar appearing as two due to gravitational lensing<\/a>.<\/p>\n ![\"""\"]( "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> An example of gravitational lensing. The bright object in the centre of this Hubble image is galaxy cluster Abell 383. It is used as a gravitational lens to view the distant galaxies in the background. The effects can be seen in the twisted and warped light surrounding the cluster. Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Richard (CRAL) and J.-P. Kneib (LAM). Acknowledgement: Marc Postman (STScI)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nThis means that light from a single distant quasar could have been distorted and warped by the gravity<\/a> of a foreground galaxy, making it appear as two separate objects.<\/p>\nThe Keck telescope was used to confirm there is no such \u2018lensing\u2019 galaxy between us and the double quasar.<\/p>\n
However, it was the Gaia spacecraft, which is currently producing a map of the Milky Way galaxy, that was able to nail down the quasars.<\/p>\n
Data from the Gaia mission was used to determine a \u2018jiggle\u2019 in the quasars that made them appear as though they were moving.<\/p>\n
In fact, this jiggle could be down to fluctuations in each of the quasar\u2019s brightness.<\/p>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Gaia\u2019s all-sky view of the Milky Way based on the measurements of almost 1.7 billion stars. Credit: ESA<\/span><\/figcaption> ESA\/Gaia\/DPAC, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO<\/i><\/span><\/div>\nA look back in time<\/strong><\/h2>\nWhat\u2019s perhaps most mind blowing is that this double quasar no longer exists.<\/p>\n
The galaxies are so far away, it will have taken 10 billion years for their light to reach us, meaning astronomers are effectively looking back in time to the early Universe.<\/p>\n
In that time, the host galaxies have likely merged into a giant elliptical galaxy.<\/p>\n
Studies like these can give astronomers greater insight into the the formation of galaxies in the early Universe, as it\u2019s thought that large galaxies formed over time through mergers just like this.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing about the progenitor population of black holes will eventually tell us about the emergence of supermassive black holes in the early Universe, and how frequent those mergers could be,\u201d says Chen.<\/p>\n
Read more about this story at hubblesite.org\/contents\/news-releases\/2023\/news-2023-002<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
Quasars\u2019 powerful energy is what enabled astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope<\/a> and a fleet of other space and ground-based telescopes to find this particular pair, which are so far away we\u2019re seeing them as they existed when the Universe was just 3 billion years old.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t see a lot of double quasars at this early time in the Universe. And that\u2019s why this discovery is so exciting,\u201d says Yu-Ching Chen of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign<\/a>, lead author of the study, which appears in the Nature<\/a> journal.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re starting to unveil this tip of the iceberg of the early binary quasar population,\u201d says Xin Liu of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the uniqueness of this study. It is actually telling us that this population exists, and now we have a method to identify double quasars that are separated by less than the size of a single galaxy.\u201d<\/p>\n In order to find the quasar duo, the team used an array of humanity\u2019s most powerful observatories, including the Hubble Space Telescope, the W.M. Keck Observatory and Gemini Observatory in Hawaii, NSF\u2019s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array in New Mexico and the space-based Chandra X-ray Observatory.<\/p>\n The European Space Agency\u2019s Gaia<\/a> space observatory helped identify this double quasar in the first place.<\/p>\n \u201cHubble\u2019s sensitivity and resolution provided pictures that allow us to rule out other possibilities for what we are seeing,\u201d says Chen.<\/p>\n The team note that Hubble, for example, was able to rule out the possibility that this was actually one quasar appearing as two due to gravitational lensing<\/a>.<\/p>\n This means that light from a single distant quasar could have been distorted and warped by the gravity<\/a> of a foreground galaxy, making it appear as two separate objects.<\/p>\n The Keck telescope was used to confirm there is no such \u2018lensing\u2019 galaxy between us and the double quasar.<\/p>\n However, it was the Gaia spacecraft, which is currently producing a map of the Milky Way galaxy, that was able to nail down the quasars.<\/p>\n Data from the Gaia mission was used to determine a \u2018jiggle\u2019 in the quasars that made them appear as though they were moving.<\/p>\n In fact, this jiggle could be down to fluctuations in each of the quasar\u2019s brightness.<\/p>\n What\u2019s perhaps most mind blowing is that this double quasar no longer exists.<\/p>\n The galaxies are so far away, it will have taken 10 billion years for their light to reach us, meaning astronomers are effectively looking back in time to the early Universe.<\/p>\n In that time, the host galaxies have likely merged into a giant elliptical galaxy.<\/p>\n Studies like these can give astronomers greater insight into the the formation of galaxies in the early Universe, as it\u2019s thought that large galaxies formed over time through mergers just like this.<\/p>\n \u201cKnowing about the progenitor population of black holes will eventually tell us about the emergence of supermassive black holes in the early Universe, and how frequent those mergers could be,\u201d says Chen.<\/p>\n Read more about this story at hubblesite.org\/contents\/news-releases\/2023\/news-2023-002<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2023\/04\/DUAL-QUASAR-J07492255-ce8d700.png?quality=90&resize=620%2C620"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>A fleet of telescopes<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/04\/gravitational-lensing-MAIN-39a86cf.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C350"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/05\/Gaia_Milky_Way_Image_-ESAGaiaDPAC-CC-BY-SA-3.0-IGO-5e7ebb3.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C390"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>A look back in time<\/strong><\/h2>\n