Largest Radio Jet, Twice As Wide As Milky Way Galaxy, Found In Distant Universe

Astronomers have found a massive radio jet, stretching across at least 200,000 light-years in the distant universe. The object is twice the width of the Milky Way galaxy and offers a rare glimpse of an ancient cosmic structure, which was formed when the universe was less than 10% of its current age of 13.8 billion years.

A study 'The Astrophysical Journal Letters' published on February 6 details that astronomers have detected these jets with the help of two powerful radio telescopes. By using these advanced telescopes to observe distant cosmic phenomena, astronomers can essentially see back in time.

This discovery of the enormous radio jet offers valuable insight into the early universe, helping scientists understand when the first jets appeared and how they influenced the formation of galaxies over time, the study read.

Lead author Anniek Gloudemans, a postdoctoral research fellow at the National Science Foundation's NOIRLab, described the discovery as groundbreaking and the largest radio jet seen thus far in the early Universe.

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Mr Gloudemans explained that until now scientists struggled to find these giant radio jets, that formed shortly after the Big Bang. The reason: they are very far away, and the distance makes it hard to detect them. Their absence has previously been attributed to the cosmic microwave background, which diminishes the radio signals of such distant objects, she added.

At the heart of most giant galaxies lies a supermassive black hole, a cosmic powerhouse with an incredibly strong gravitational pull that absorbs everything that comes too close. As this material funnels into the black hole, it releases vast amounts of energy, which scientists believe may be responsible for creating quasars, some of the brightest objects known in the universe.

The radio jet recently spotted spans over 200,000 light-years and could be connected to these black holes. A light-year is the distance travelled by light in one year, which is 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometres).

The quasar responsible for the formation of the two-lobed radio jet was created when the universe was just 1.2 billion years old, or about 9% of its current age. Unlike most quasars, this one is smaller, weighing 450 million times the mass of our Sun.

"This suggests that an exceptionally massive black hole may not be necessary to generate such powerful jets in the early Universe," said Mr Gloudemans.

The jet itself is unusual, with asymmetrical features such as varying distances from the quasar and differences in brightness, indicating that extreme environmental factors are influencing its shape and intensity.

"We were searching for quasars with strong radio jets in the early universe, which helps us understand how and when the first jets are formed and how they impact the evolution of galaxies," Mr Gloudemans said in a statement.

Martijn Oei, the lead author of the September study on Porphyrion and a postdoctoral scholar in observational astronomy at the California Institute of Technology, said that scientists have long wondered if long, powerful jets could be seen in the distant universe because the black holes that produce them acted differently and were less massive in the early universe.