Euclid Telescope Spots Oldest Quasars Ever Discovered, Adding to "Perplexing" Space Mystery
The discovery more than doubles the number of known ancient quasars and includes objects seen when the universe was just 670 million years old.
- On Monday, July 6, 2026, the European Space Agency announced its Euclid space telescope discovered 31 ancient quasars, including two dating to when the universe was 670 million years old.
- Daming Yang, lead author of the study, said Euclid's ability to search large areas of the night sky captures faint light far more efficiently than ground-based telescopes, calling it a "unique tool for quasar hunting."
- These quasars represent supermassive black holes shining with the power of around one trillion suns; study co-author Joseph Hennawi said these "monsters" somehow existed when the universe was in its infancy.
- This discovery doubles the number of known ancient quasars, while researchers have also observed these objects with the James Webb space telescope and will soon begin sifting through that collected data.
- Astronomers still lack a clear understanding of how these black holes grew so massive so quickly, though the team aims to stitch together a "quasar chronicle" of the universe's first billion years.
29 Articles
29 Articles
Oldest quasars add to ‘perplexing’ space mystery
PARIS — The Euclid space telescope has spotted the oldest quasars — the brightest objects in the universe — ever discovered, deepening a cosmic mystery that has been puzzling scientists.Quasars are powered by supermassive black holes at the heart of early galaxies gobbling up surrounding matter in a colossal feeding frenzy that can shine trillions of times brighter than the Sun.Because they are so incredibly bright — and looking deep into space …
The Euclid Space Telescope has identified the oldest quasars ever observed, a result that accentuates the mystery surrounding the rapid formation of supermassive black holes The telescope
The space telescope Euclid has spotted the oldest quasars – the brightest objects in the Universe – never seen, thickening even more a cosmic mystery that is confusing scientists.
With the discovery of 31 extremely distant cores, scientists hope to make a start on explaining how galaxies and black holes could become so enormously massive so quickly.
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