The largest and most distant reservoir of water ever identified in the universe surrounds a black hole 20 billion times more massive than the sun
Far. Very far away. Some 12 billion light years away, in a remote corner of the universe, lies an unimaginable water reservoir.
140 trillion oceans. 140,000 billion times (on the Anglo-Saxon scale) the volume of all the Earth’s oceans combined. The largest and most distant reservoir of water ever identified in the universe.
This colossal reservoir of water is in orbit around a quasar whose light reaches us shortly after the Big Bang. “This is a new indication that water is spread throughout the universeeven in its early stages“said one of its discoverers, scientist Matt Bradford of NASA’s JPL laboratory.
A supermassive black hole
The quasar, called APM 08279+5255, envelops a black hole 20 billion times more massive than the Sun that produces as much energy as a thousand trillion suns.
>> Worthy of a science fiction film: an unidentified rocket has crashed on the Moon! Many thought Elon Musk was guilty, but we finally found out where it came from… <<
This central black hole attracts surrounding matter, heating gas and dust to create a region full of molecules never before detected at such an extreme distance. Water vapor is one of these molecules, and its presence indicates that the quasar is emitting radiation, because it keeps the surrounding gas relatively…
Read more
Also read
Not to be missed on TV this evening: this science fiction film which was not released in cinemas in France, but which set records internationally
Worthy of a science fiction film: the United Kingdom’s oldest satellite has been moved and no one knows how or why… But there is a suspect!
Worthy of a science fiction film: the Earth received a message sent by laser 16 million kilometers away
Belgium
