In an astonishing discovery, astronomers have identified an immense water reservoir orbiting a quasar more than 12 billion light-years away.
This groundbreaking finding offers an unprecedented look into the early universe, with light from this quasar having traveled through space since shortly after the Big Bang.
This vast water reservoir holds an estimated 140 trillion times the volume of Earth’s oceans.
It is situated near a supermassive black hole that weighs about 20 billion times more than our Sun.
The quasar, APM 08279+5255, emits an extraordinary amount of energy—equivalent to that produced by a thousand trillion suns.
Matt Bradford, a NASA scientist involved in the research, emphasized the importance of this discovery.
“The environment surrounding this quasar is extraordinary, as it’s generating a significant amount of water,” he explained. “This suggests that water has been present even in the universe’s earliest moments.”
Bradford and his colleagues analyzed APM 08279+5255 and its central black hole.
The black hole consumes nearby gas and dust, creating an intensely heated environment, allowing scientists to discover water molecules at such vast distances for the first time.
Quasars are not your typical stars. Discovered over half a century ago, they are incredibly luminous objects found at the energetic cores of distant galaxies, outshining all nearby stars.
These celestial powerhouses harbor supermassive black holes that absorb surrounding matter, generating intense heat and releasing tremendous energy.
