An astonishingly strong jet has been emitted by a black hole in the remote universe, as revealed in a recent study conducted by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The study delves into the presence of this jet during a significant cosmic epoch.

The study showcases an artist's depiction of material within a disk falling towards a supermassive black hole. A jet is seen emanating from the black hole towards the upper right, as detected by Chandra. This black hole is situated 11.6 billion light-years away from Earth, a time when the cosmic microwave background (CMB) was much denser than it is today. As electrons in the jets travel away from the black hole, they interact with the CMB radiation, resulting in collisions with microwave photons. These collisions elevate the photon energy into the X-ray band (purple and white), making them detectable by Chandra even at such a vast distance, as depicted in the inset.

Scientists utilized Chandra and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to examine this black hole and its jet during a period known as 'cosmic noon,' which transpired approximately three billion years after the universe's inception. At this juncture, galaxies and supermassive black holes were undergoing accelerated growth compared to any other era in the universe's timeline.

The researchers identified two black holes with jets extending over 300,000 light-years. These black holes are located 11.6 billion and 11.7 billion light-years away from our planet, respectively. The particles in one jet are moving at speeds ranging from 95% to 99% of the speed of light (J1405+0415), while the other jet particles are traveling at speeds between 92% and 98% of the speed of light (J1610+1811). The jet originating from J1610+1811 is notably robust, carrying nearly half the energy of the intense light emitted by hot gas orbiting the black hole.

The team managed to detect these jets despite their immense distances and close proximity to the bright, expanding supermassive black holes, also known as 'quasars.' This was made possible by Chandra's precise X-ray capabilities and the denser state of the CMB during that period, which amplified the energy enhancement described earlier.

When quasar jets reach speeds close to that of light, Einstein's theory of special relativity triggers a striking brightening effect. Jets directed towards Earth appear significantly brighter than those oriented away. The apparent brightness observed by astronomers can stem from varying combinations of speed and viewing angles. A jet moving at near-light speed but angled away from our perspective can exhibit the same brightness as a slower jet pointed directly at Earth.

The researchers devised an innovative statistical method to overcome the challenge of distinguishing between the effects of speed and viewing angle. This approach acknowledges a key bias: astronomers are more inclined to discover jets aimed towards Earth due to their enhanced brightness resulting from relativistic effects. By incorporating this bias through a modified probability distribution, which considers how jets at different angles are detected in surveys, the team was able to determine the most probable viewing angles for J1405+0415 and J1610+1811.

These findings were presented by Jaya Maithil (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian) at the 246th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Anchorage, AK, and are set to be published in The Astrophysical Journal. A preprint of the study is available here. The Chandra program is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, while the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center oversees science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.