A team of astronomers from the Carnegie Institution for Science discovered 63 new quasars with the help of high-powered telescopes. This discovery can shed light on the earliest structure of the universe, which is still shrouded in mystery.
The newly discovered quasars came from the time when the universe is still at its earliest stage. Scientists hope that this discovery will lead them to the explanation of the universe's "dark ages."
Light to study the dark universe
Quasars are celestial objects of distant galaxies emitting a massive amount of energy. They are so bright that they eclipse the galaxies where they belong. According to Eduardo Bañados, a research fellow at the Carnegie Institution, "Quasars are among the brightest objects and they literally illuminate our knowledge of the early universe."
Astrophysicists have been studying quasars since its discovery in 1963. Thousands of quasars have been discovered since then, but astronomers still lack a basic understanding of how they work. "The 63 discovered in this study are the best tools for helping us probe the early universe. But until now, conclusive results have been limited by the very small sample size of ancient quasars," Bañados said.
The era of darkness
It all began with an outward explosion called the Big Bang. After the celestial explosion, subatomic particles like hydrogen ions formed a massive scorching cloud for thousands of years. When it cooled, the age of "recombination" began-it is the time when the atom, the basic unit of matter, was formed. Then, the universe entered the age of darkness, which remains a mystery because there is so little of it to see as this age began before the first star was born. Scientists believe that the earliest quasars are the ancient remnants of this transition and, therefore, hold the key to uncovering the mystery of the Dark Age.
Bañados and his colleagues' research on quasars could yield new insight into how the universe came into being. Their studies will be published in the next edition of the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series.
