Updated 23:32 IST, January 16th 2025

Supermassive Black Hole Spotted 12.9 Billion Light-Years Away Shooting Beam At Earth, Details Inside

A supermassive black hole has been discovered by astronomers that's shooting a giant energy beam directly at Earth.

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Supermassive blackhole's beam hitting Earth
Supermassive blackhole's beam hitting Earth | Image: Representative image

Science News: A supermassive black hole has been discovered by astronomers that's shooting a giant energy beam directly at Earth. 

The cosmic juggernaut, which is about as massive as 700 million suns, is taking aim at Earth from a galaxy in the early universe, up to 800 million years.

New Blazar J0410−0139 Discovered 

According to a new study, published recently in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, researchers discovered a new blazar, dubbed J0410−0139. 

The study used data from multiple telescopes, including the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, the Magellan telescopes and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope — all located in Chile — and NASA's Chandra observatory in Earth-orbit.

“The alignment of J0410−0139's jet with our line of sight allows astronomers to peer directly into the heart of this cosmic powerhouse," said study co-author Emmanuel Momjian, an astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Virginia

"This blazar offers a unique laboratory to study the interplay between jets, black holes, and their environments during one of the universe’s most transformative epochs”.

What Are Blazars 

The substantial magnetic fields associated with quasars have the capacity to shape energy into dual jets that emanate perpendicularly from accretion disks, extending far beyond their parent galaxies.

Occasionally, certain quasars direct one of their twin jets straight towards Earth, resulting in radio bright spots that emit pulses as these black holes devour surrounding matter.

These particular black holes are referred to as blazars.

What Are Quasars and Its Impact 

Certain supermassive black holes, referred to as quasars, possess such immense mass that they can heat the material spiraling into their accretion disk to temperatures reaching hundreds of thousands of degrees. At this stage, they release substantial quantities of electromagnetic radiation.
 

Published 23:32 IST, January 16th 2025