Quasars are supermassive black holes actively consuming matter, releasing intense light. Their existence less than a billion years after the Big Bang challenges theories of black hole growth. Studying quasar light helps map early cosmic structure, intergalactic gas, and chemical composition. It also probes how matter clustered into galaxies. Observing them connects the Big Bang’s predictions to real cosmic objects.
It matters because quasars trace early structure formation and test cosmological timelines.
It also constrains models of black hole and galaxy evolution in the early universe.
Quasars let us peer into the universe’s first billion years.
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics [cfa.harvard.edu]