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August 10, 2020

Formation of the quasar Pōniuāʻena

An artist’s impression of the formation of the quasar Pōniuāʻena starting with a seed black hole, 100 million years after the Big Bang. Astronomers discovered Pōniuāʻena, the second most distant quasar ever found, using the international Gemini Observatory and Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory.

[Research supported by U.S. National Science Foundation grant AST 1907290.]

Learn more in the NOIRLab news story Monster black hole found in the early universe. (Date image taken: unknown; date originally posted to NSF Multimedia Gallery: Aug. 10, 2020)

Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P; Marenfeld


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