Anna Hartz
NASA Data Uncovers Mysterious Black Hole Activity in the Early Universe
Space is full of mysteries. Every time we think we’ve seen it all, something new comes along that challenges everything we thought we knew.
Now, a group of astronomers has spotted something truly mind-blowing—gigantic X-ray jets blasting out from black holes that are billions of years old, according to El Economista.
Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, scientists made a surprising discovery.
A Look into the Early Universe
They found two supermassive black holes releasing huge jets of energy. These black holes are incredibly far away, about 11.6 to 11.7 billion light-years from Earth.
That means we’re seeing them as they were when the universe was only about 3 billion years old.
The lead researcher, Jaya Maithil, presented the findings at a major astronomy meeting in Anchorage, Alaska.
She explained that the black holes are feeding on early light from the universe and turning it into high-energy jets. These jets stretch across billions of light-years. That kind of power is extremely rare.
Ancient Black Holes
These black holes are not just huge. They are ancient. Researchers believe they could date back to a time before the Big Bang, or at least to the very edge of that era. If true, that changes how we understand the early universe.
The astronomers called these jets “cosmic time capsules.” They may help scientists understand how black holes affected the galaxies around them.
By studying them, researchers hope to learn more about how galaxies grew and changed over time.
One surprising part of the discovery is how long the jets remain visible. They seem to interact with very faint radiation left over from the early universe. That may be why we can still see them.
Maithil said that thanks to new technology, we’re slowly starting to uncover the deeper layers of the universe.
With each discovery, we’re one step closer to understanding how everything came to be.
Even from billions of years away, these black holes are telling a story. We’re finally learning how to listen.
