Pōniuā`ena, the Second Most Distant Quasar Ever Discovered (IMAGE)

W. M. Keck Observatory

Pōniuā`ena, the Second Most Distant Quasar Ever Discovered

Caption

An artist's impression of the formation of the quasar Pōniuā`ena, starting with a seed black hole 100 million years after the Big Bang (left), then growing into a billion solar mass black hole 700 million years after the Big Bang (right). Astronomers discovered Pōniuā`ena, the second-most distant quasar ever found, using three Maunakea Observatories on Hawaii Island: W. M. Keck Observatory, Gemini Observatory, and UKIRT, as well as the Pan-STARRS1 telescope on the Island of Maui. It is the first quasar to receive an indigenous Hawaiian name.

Credit

International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Marenfeld

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