A quasar is a compact region powered by a supermassive black hole located at the center of a massive galaxy. They are extremely bright, with a pinpoint appearance similar to stars, and are far away from Earth. Due to their distance and brightness, they allow a glimpse into the conditions of the early Universe, when it was less than a billion years old.

Researchers led by professors Dragan Salak, Takuya Hashimoto, and Akio Inoue have made an exciting discovery regarding how powerful quasars in the distant primitive universe could have affected the formation of stars in their host galaxies.

Using the impressive capabilities of the ALMA telescope in Chile, this international team managed to obtain the first observational evidence that quasars can generate powerful molecular gas flows that eject the necessary fuel for star formation far into space.

A group of ALMA 12-m antennas observing the night sky. Observations in this study were made using the 12-m antennas
A group of ALMA 12-m antennas observing the night sky. Observations in this study were made using the 12-m antennas | photo ESO/Y. Beletsky

The study target was the quasar J2054-0005, one of the brightest known in the young universe as its emitted light is estimated to have left more than 12 billion years ago.

Thanks to its enormous brightness, this quasar allowed the team to detect how a powerful stream of hydrogen monoxide molecules was expelled from the host galaxy at very high speed.

This discovery is particularly relevant because theoretical models had suggested that molecular gas outflows could play a significant role in regulating the star formation process from very early ages of the universe by removing the necessary fuel from galaxies. However, until now, there was no direct evidence of their existence.

The molecular gas outflow from the quasar includes hydroxyl (OH) (top). Due to the motion of the molecular gas toward the observer, the OH peak in the absorption spectrum (bottom, dashed blue line) appears at a shorter wavelength (solid blue line), a phenomenon known as the Doppler effect
The molecular gas outflow from the quasar includes hydroxyl (OH) (top). Due to the motion of the molecular gas toward the observer, the OH peak in the absorption spectrum (bottom, dashed blue line) appears at a shorter wavelength (solid blue line), a phenomenon known as the Doppler effect | photo ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) modified from Dragan Salak, et al. The Astrophysical Journal. February 1, 2024

Salak noted that they had focused their research on J2054-0005 precisely because, given its high brightness, it represented the ideal target to study the possible existence of these gas streams.

Thanks to the unprecedented sensitivity of ALMA, they could, for the first time, “see the shadow” that these molecules produced by absorbing part of the quasar’s radiation, revealing the presence of the flow.

With these exciting results, the researchers demonstrate that quasars, as extreme sources of energy, are capable of generating powerful molecular flows that significantly influence the evolution of the early galaxies by suppressing their ability to form new stars. A finding that will undoubtedly continue to shed light on the mysteries of the universe’s birth.

Sources

Hokkaido University | Dragan Salak, Takuya Hashimoto, et al., Molecular Outflow in the Reionization-epoch Quasar J2054-0005 Revealed by OH 119 μm Observations. The Astrophysical Journal, vol.962 no.1. DOI 10.3847/1538-4357/ad0df5

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