Enough water to fill all of Earth’s oceans trillions of times has been found around a quasar 12 billion light years away.
Astronomers have discovered a massive reservoir of water in one of the farthest corners of the universe, 12 billion light-years away. This water is located around a quasar called APM 08279+5255. At the center of the quasar is a black hole that is 20 billion times more massive than the Sun. It has been stated that the amount of water around the black hole is enough to fill all the oceans on Earth approximately 140 trillion times. This discovery shows how common water was even in the early universe.
Properties of Black Hole and Quasar
The APM 08279+5255 quasar is an energy source created by the rotation of gas and dust around a black hole at incredibly high speeds. This quasar heats the matter orbiting a black hole, radiating trillions of times the energy of the Sun. The water vapor around the quasar is heated by the radiation emitted by the black hole, making this region denser and hotter than other galaxies. This environment creates a dynamic that affects the growth of the black hole and star formation around it.
Water vapor around the quasar is much denser compared to intergalactic gases, although it has a density 300 trillion times lower. Moreover, it has a very active structure even at a temperature of -63°C. The existence of this water shows how common water was even in the early universe and provides important clues in understanding the role water played in the formation of stars and galaxies.
This discovery was made by a team led by Matt Bradford of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The team detected this water vapor using the Submillimeter Observatory telescope in Hawaii and other radio telescopes. These findings provide more insight into how galaxies in the early universe were formed and how the dynamics around black holes work.