Astronomers detect 31 ancient quasars from 670 million years after Big Bang
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Astronomers have identified 31 of the oldest known quasars, including the two earliest ever detected, dating to when the universe was 670 million years old. The quasars are powered by supermassive black holes billions of times the Sun's mass. Their existence challenges current models of black hole formation.
The Discovery
The quasars were observed using data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and other telescopes. They date to an epoch when the universe was just 5% of its current age. The two earliest quasars are the most distant ever confirmed, with redshifts exceeding 7.5.
Cosmological Challenge
Supermassive black holes powering these quasars reached billions of solar masses within 670 million years, a timespan too short for standard accretion models. The findings suggest alternative formation pathways, such as direct collapse of massive gas clouds or rapid mergers of smaller black holes.
Oldest Oscillating Quasar Discovery
MIT astronomers identified an oscillating quasar from when the universe was 850 million years old, announced in June 2026. The quasar's blinking behavior provides a new method to study black hole growth in the early universe.
What's Next
The team plans to search for more quasars from the same epoch using DESI and the James Webb Space Telescope. It remains unclear whether existing theories can be reconciled with the observed black hole masses.
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Astronomers detect 31 ancient quasars from 670 million years after Big Bang
