The breath of the ancestors

A research team led by the INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica) and the University of Trieste has once again harnessed the very distant and energetic relativistic winds generated by a distant but decidedly active quasar (one of the brightest discovered so far). A study published in The Astrophysical Journal reports the first observation at different wavelengths of the interaction between the black hole and the quasar of the host galaxy J0923+0402 during the initial phases of the Universe, about 13 billion years ago (when the Universe was less than a billion years old). In addition to evidence of a gas storm generated by the black hole, experts have discovered for the first time a halo of gas extending well beyond the galaxy, suggesting the presence of material ejected from the galaxy itself via winds generated by the black hole.

Our study helps us understand how gas is expelled or captured by galaxies in the young Universe and how black holes grow and can impact the evolution of galaxies. We know that the fate of galaxies such as the Milky Way is closely linked to that of black holes, since these can generate galactic storms capable of extinguishing the formation of new stars. Studying the primordial eras allows us to understand the initial conditions of the Universe we see today. - Manuela Bischetti