In a groundbreaking discovery, astronomers have found a massive water reservoir orbiting a quasar more than 12 billion light-years away. This unprecedented find offers a rare glimpse into the early universe, as the light from the quasar has traveled since shortly after the Big Bang.
The water reservoir holds an estimated 140 trillion times the volume of Earth’s oceans and is located near a supermassive black hole that weighs around 20 billion times the mass of our Sun. The quasar, APM 08279+5255, emits energy equivalent to that of a thousand trillion suns.
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NASA scientist Matt Bradford, part of the research team, explained that the surrounding environment of the quasar is extraordinary, suggesting that water has existed even in the universe’s earliest moments. The discovery was made possible as the superheated environment around the black hole allowed the team to detect water molecules at vast distances.
Quasars, discovered over 50 years ago, are extremely luminous objects at the center of distant galaxies. They outshine surrounding stars, powered by the supermassive black holes that consume nearby matter and generate immense heat and energy.
This new finding provides crucial insights into the early universe, highlighting the role of water in the formation of galaxies and stars. Despite being 300 trillion times less dense than Earth’s atmosphere, the water vapor surrounding the quasar is five times hotter and hundreds of times denser than typical intergalactic gas, revealing that the quasar emits radiation keeping the gas warm.
The presence of water and other molecules, like carbon monoxide, suggests the potential for new star formation, with some of the material possibly fueling the black hole. This discovery deepens our understanding of how galaxies evolved, revealing that the essential elements for life existed much earlier than previously thought.
