Quasars are luminous galactic nuclei powered by supermassive black holes that emit immense energy while drawing in surrounding matter. The quasars examined in this study date back to a time when the Universe was less than a billion years old, making them some of the oldest objects observed.
X-ray emissions from these quasars revealed an unexpected relationship: the speed of matter ejected by the quasars' winds is connected to the temperature of the gas in the corona, the X-ray-emitting region closest to the black hole. Faster winds, which can reach thousands of kilometers per second, correspond to cooler coronas with low-energy X-ray emissions, indicating rapid black hole growth. This process surpasses the Eddington limit, a theoretical threshold for matter accretion, and is termed "super-Eddington." In contrast, quasars with hotter coronas and higher-energy X-ray emissions showed slower wind speeds.
"Our work suggests that the supermassive black holes at the center of the first quasars formed within the first billion years of the Universe's life may have actually increased their mass very rapidly, challenging the limits of physics," said Alessia Tortosa, lead author and researcher at INAF in Rome. "The discovery of this connection between X-ray emission and winds is crucial for understanding how such large black holes could have formed in such a short time, thus providing a concrete clue to solve one of the greatest mysteries of modern astrophysics."
This groundbreaking discovery was enabled by data from the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton telescope, which observed these quasars for nearly 700 hours under the Multi-Year XMM-Newton Heritage Programme. The research, conducted between 2021 and 2023, was spearheaded by the HYPERION project, led by INAF researcher Luca Zappacosta. The project targeted hyperluminous quasars from the cosmic dawn to understand the dynamics of early Universe structures.
"In the HYPERION program, we focused on two key factors: on one hand, the careful selection of quasars to observe, choosing the titans, meaning those that had accumulated as much mass as possible, and on the other hand, the in-depth study of their properties in X-rays, something never attempted before on such a large number of objects from the cosmic dawn," said Zappacosta. "We hit the jackpot! The results we're getting are genuinely unexpected, and they all point to a super-Eddington growth mechanism of the black holes."
The insights gained from this research will guide the development of next-generation X-ray missions like ESA's ATHENA and NASA's AXIS and Lynx, slated for launch in the 2030s. These missions will further investigate black holes and active galactic nuclei, revealing more about the origins of early galactic structures.
Research Report:HYPERION. Shedding light on the first luminous quasars: A correlation between UV disc winds and X-ray continuum
Related Links
Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica
Understanding Time and Space
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