In a groundbreaking discovery, astronomers have detected an immense water reservoir orbiting a quasar located more than 12 billion light-years away.
This extraordinary find provides an unprecedented glimpse into the early universe, with light from the quasar having traveled through space since shortly after the Big Bang.
The vast water reservoir holds an estimated 140 trillion times the volume of Earth’s oceans. It is situated near a supermassive black hole, which weighs about 20 billion times more than our Sun.
The quasar, identified as APM 08279+5255, emits an incredible amount of energy—equivalent to that produced by a thousand trillion suns.
Matt Bradford, a NASA scientist involved in the research, highlighted the significance of this discovery. “The environment surrounding this quasar is extraordinary, as it’s generating a significant amount of water,” Bradford explained. “This suggests that water has been present even in the universe’s earliest moments.”
Bradford and his team focused their analysis on APM 08279+5255 and its central black hole. As the black hole consumes nearby gas and dust, it creates an intensely heated environment, enabling scientists to detect water molecules at such vast distances for the first time.—News Desk
