The international team of astrophysicists at the University of Copenhagen believes that GNz7q might be the missing link that helps confirm theories that supermassive black holes can emerge from star-forming galaxies
For years, astronomers have been searching for a “missing link” that bridges quasars—a term for incredibly bright supermassive black holes—and star-forming galaxies known as “starburst” galaxies. Such a discovery would help better our understanding of the origins of the universe and how galaxies form While modeling and simulations suggested that these objects existed, it hadn’t actually been observed—that is, until now.
NASA, ESA, Garth Illingworth , Pascal Oesch , Rychard Bouwens , I. Labbe , Cosmic Dawn Center/Niels Bohr Institute/University of Copenhagen, Denmark “Its properties are clearly in between these very luminous quasars that others have discovered in the early universe, as well as galaxies,” Gabriel Brammer, associate professor at the University of Copenhagen and co-author of the study, told The Daily Beast. “It kind of sits halfway between the two, which is part of why we’re excited about this object. It’s a case study for how these two phenomena are connected.
“That particular object pops out as being the brightest of these very distant galaxies in that field,” Brammer explained. “At the same time it had this very unique appearance of being a very compact source. That’s characteristic of black holes.”