📡 Here is the largest map of active supermassive black holes in the Universe

2024-04-03 06:00:32

A new step has been taken in understanding the Universe thanks to an unprecedented map of active supermassive black holes.

These black holes, located at the hearts of galaxies and known as quasars, are among the most luminous objects in the Universe despite their paradoxical name. The recently unveiled map lists around 1.3 million of these quasars, the most distant of which shone when the Universe was only 1.5 billion years old, compared to its current 13.7 billion years.

Each point represents a quasar, seen from the central point. The white area starting from the central point is a consequence of the absence of data, hidden by the disk of our own galaxy.

David Hogg, senior researcher at theInstitut Flatiron and teacher atNew York University, emphasizes that this catalog of quasars is unique in its kind. It offers a three-dimensional map covering the largest volume of the Universe ever mapped. This feat was achieved thanks to data from space telescope Gaia de l’European Space Agencyoriginally designed to map our own galaxy but which has also made it possible to spot objects well beyond the Milky Way. Quasars are intense sources of light powered by supermassive black holes. Their host galaxies are enveloped in enormous halos of invisible dark matter. The study of quasars offers valuable clues about the matter black, particularly on its tendency to agglomerate.

The locations of quasars and their galaxies also provide insight into the expansion of the Universe over time. By comparing the map of quasars with the oldest light in our cosmos, the cosmic microwave backgroundscientists can measure the extent to which matter aggregates.

Infographic explaining the creation of a new map of approximately 1.3 million quasars across the visible Universe.
Crédit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC; Lucy Reading-Ikkanda/Simons Foundation; K. Storey-Fisher et al. 2024

The use of Gaia data, enriched by that of NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, made it possible to remove contaminants such as stars and galaxies, thus refining the distance of the quasars. This collaboration also created a map showing areas where dust, stars and other obstacles block our view of quasars, essential for interpreting the quasar map.

This catalog is seen as a shining example of the productivity of astronomical projects, illustrating how a mission designed to map the stars of our galaxy was also able to provide a complete map of the Universe thanks to the discovery of more than a million quasars .

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