The European Southern Observatory (ESO) reports that astronomers have discovered and studied in detail the most distant of all known sources of radio emission – a quasar, designated P172 + 18.

Quasars are some of the brightest objects in the visible universe. The power of their radiation can be tens and hundreds of times higher than the total power of all stars in the galaxy. The radiation mechanism is associated with supermassive black holes: when a black hole interacts with the surrounding gas, enormous energy is released.

Quasar P172 + 18 is approximately 13 billion light years away. The object was discovered using the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory (VLT ESO).

The quasar emits powerful radiation in the radio range. Energy is provided by a black hole with a mass of about 300 million solar masses, which absorbs gas in huge quantities.

«We see it [quasar] as it was when the universe was only about 780 million years old. Although more distant quasars have been discovered, this time for the first time astronomers were able to obtain clear evidence of the existence of radio jets near a quasar at such an early stage in the history of the Universe.“, – says the publication.

Further study of the object could provide astronomers with important information for understanding the physics of the early universe. In particular, the study of radio-loud quasars can tell about how exactly black holes in the early Universe were able to grow to supermassive scales so quickly after the Big Bang.