But follow-up spectroscopic imaging of the objects helped the researchers determine that a quasar pair was the light source.
The teams research waspublishedin The Astrophysical Journal Letters and acompanion paperhas been accepted for publication AAS Journals.
Our discovery provides the first evidence of such a pair actually present in the cosmic dawn, Matsuoka added.
An artist’s impression of two quasars merging.Illustration: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Garlick
It supports the idea that the universe has evolved via mergers.
TheCosmic Dawnis the period of time in the early universe when the first light sources formed.
Seeing quasars so early in the universe was long anticipated, so their direct observation is a welcome one.
The quasars (inset right) mid-merge.Image:NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), D. de Martin (NSF NOIRLab) & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)
The black holes in each quasar are each about 100 million times the mass of our Sun.
Because the masses of the holes are about the same, Matsuoka said the team calls them twins.
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