SDSS 0836+0054, 1030+0524 & 1306+0356:
Chandra Finds Well-Established Black Holes In Distant Quasars

These three quasars, recently discovered at optical wavelengths by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, are 13 billion light years from Earth, making them the most distant known quasars. The X-rays Chandra detected were emitted when the universe was only a billion years old, about 7 percent of the present age of the universe.

A surprising result was that the power output and other properties of these quasars are similar to less distant quasars. This indicates that the conditions around these quasars' central supermassive black holes must also be similar, contrary to some theoretical expectations. As astronomer Smita Mathur of Ohio State, who was involved in the research said, "Perhaps the most remarkable thing about them is that they are so absolutely unremarkable."

By various estimates, the supermassive black holes in these quasars weighed in at somewhere between one and 10 billion times the mass of the Sun. The implication is that the black holes put on a lot of weight soon after the galaxies formed.

Fast Facts for SDSS 0836+0054: Credit  NASA/CXC/PSU/N.Brandt et al. Scale  Image is 1.61 arcmin on a side. Category  Quasars & Active Galaxies Coordinates (J2000)  RA 8h 36m 43.9s | Dec +00° 54' 55.10" Constellation  Hydra Observation Dates  January 29, 2002 Observation Time  1.6 hours Obs. IDs  3359 Color Code  Intensity Instrument  ACIS Distance Estimate  About 13 billion light years Release Date  March 28, 2002

Fast Facts for SDSS 1030+0524: Credit  NASA/CXC/PSU/N.Brandt et al. Scale  Image is 1.61 arcmin on a side. Category  Quasars & Active Galaxies Coordinates (J2000)  RA 10h 30m 27.1s | Dec +05° 24' 55.10" Constellation  Sextans Observation Dates  January 29, 2002 Observation Time  2.2 hours Obs. IDs  3357 Color Code  Intensity Instrument  ACIS Distance Estimate  About 13 billion light years Release Date  March 28, 2002

Fast Facts for SDSS 1306+0356: Credit  NASA/CXC/PSU/N.Brandt et al. Scale  Image is 1.61 arcmin on a side. Category  Quasars & Active Galaxies Coordinates (J2000)  RA 13h 06m 08.3s | Dec +03° 56' 26.30" Constellation  Virgo Observation Dates  January 29, 2002 Observation Time  2.3 hours Obs. IDs  3358 Color Code  Intensity Instrument  ACIS Distance Estimate  About 13 billion ight years Release Date  March 28, 2002