Observations confirm astronomers' expectation that early-Universe quasars formed in regions of space densely populated with companion galaxies.
Observations confirm astronomers' expectation that early-Universe quasars formed in regions of space densely populated with companion galaxies. DECam's exceptionally wide field of view and special filters played a crucial role in reaching this conclusion, and the observations reveal why previous studies seeking to characterize the density of early-Universe quasar neighborhoods have yielded conflicting results.
The study was led by Trystan Lambert, who completed this work as a PhD student at Diego Portales University's Institute of Astrophysical Studies in Chile and is now a postdoc at the University of Western Australia node at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research .
After systematically mapping the region of space around quasar VIK J2348-3054, Lambert and his team found 38 companion galaxies in the wider environment around the quasar -- out to a distance of 60 million light-years -- which is consistent with what is expected for quasars residing in dense regions. However, they were surprised to find that within 15 million light-years of the quasar, there were no companions at all.
The team also suggests an explanation for the lack of companion galaxies in the immediate vicinity of the quasar. They postulate that the intensity of the radiation from the quasar may be large enough to affect, or potentially stop, the formation of stars in these galaxies, making them invisible to our observations.
"These findings show the value of the National Science Foundation's productive partnership with the Department of Energy," says Chris Davis, NSF program director for NSF NOIRLab."We expect that productivity will be amplified enormously with the upcoming NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a next-generation facility that will reveal even more about the early Universe and these remarkable objects.
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