Euclid telescope finds some of the oldest quasars ever observed

The European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope is helping astronomers identify quasars from the early universe, including some of the oldest known examples. Quasars—bright cores powered by supermassive black holes—are rare and provide information about conditions when galaxies were forming. Reporting on Euclid’s findings, sources say the telescope has detected 31 extremely ancient quasars, described as among the most distant ever observed. Two of these quasars are highlighted as the earliest yet seen, with their light emitted when the universe was about 670 million years old. That period corresponds to roughly 5% of the universe’s current age. The measurements indicate that these quasars were shining with extreme brightness, described as comparable to the output of around a trillion suns. By observing such early objects, researchers use the quasars as probes of the universe’s formative era, improving understanding of how early galaxies and their central black holes grow over cosmic time.