Five gamma-ray blazars set new distance record
Bright galaxies in early universe suggest rapid growth of supermassive black holes
WASHINGTON — Scientists have spotted a quintet of record-breaking blazars. The five gamma-ray blazars — supremely bright galaxies that host supermassive black holes — are the most distant ever spotted, at more than 11.7 billion light-years away.
As a gamma-ray blazar’s black hole swallows up matter, bright jets shoot out of the galaxy at close to the speed of light. If a jet happens to be pointed at Earth, the galaxy gleams brilliantly in the sky in the high-energy light of gamma rays.