Strongest Astronomical Object 'Kills' One Of The Galaxies

Illustration of matter-eating quasars (photo: Doc. NASA)

Astronomers found quasars, active galactic nuclei with the help of power from black holes, using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. The quasar is named J1007+2115.

According to astronomers' observations, citing from Space, the strongest object in the universe emits winds the size of a galaxy that drives gas and dust at high speed. With this speed, new stars cannot be born in their parent galaxies.

"This is the earliest and furthest third quasar powered by the current supermassive black hole," said the leader of the Weizhe Discovery Team Liu. "The wind driven by this galaxy-scale quasar is currently the earliest known."

The wind that is emitted from this quasar stretches very far, which is up to 7,500 light years from the black hole. The material flowed annually is equivalent to 300 suns with a speed equivalent to 6,000 times the speed of light.

With these findings, it can be estimated that J1007+2115 is very strong. So powerful, researchers stated that this giant object in the universe is capable of 'killing' its parent galaxy by seizing all the material needed for new stars.

J1007+2115 is estimated to have been born about 700 years after the Big Bang occurred, or when the universe was only 5 percent of its 13.8 billion years old. Even though it is very old, this object is very strong thanks to the support of the supermassive black hole in its parent galaxy.

Astronomers believe that all major galaxies have supermassive black holes in their core, including the Milky Way Galaxy. However, not all black holes power the quasars because there is no material such as gas and dust that can be eaten.

Actually, the J1007+2115 galaxy is rich in gas and dust so that stars can form every year at a speed of 80 to 250 solar masses. However, the process of forming stars will not last long because of the quasar.

"The wind drives large amounts of gas outwards. It can inhibit star formation activity in galaxies, which require gas to form stars, as well as the growth of the supermassive black hole itself, which also requires gas addition," Liu explained.

In addition to stars that cannot be born, the growth of supermassive black holes with masses equivalent to 1 billion suns is also thought to have stopped because the food supply has been cut off by quasars. Therefore, its parent galaxy is believed to have become a dead galaxy.