Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
A space telescope called Euclid has found 31 very old, very bright objects in space. They are called quasars.
A quasar is a very bright center of a galaxy. It shines because of a giant black hole eating gas and dust.
Two of these quasars are the oldest ever seen. Their light left them when the universe was only 670 million years old.
Scientists are excited because this helps them learn how the first big black holes were made, a very long time ago.
- telescope
- a tool used to see faraway objects like stars and planets
- quasar
- an extremely bright, distant galaxy center powered by a black hole
- galaxy
- a huge group of stars, gas, and dust held together by gravity
- black hole
- a place in space with very strong gravity that pulls everything in
- universe
- everything that exists, including all stars, planets, and space
- ancient
- very, very old
- light-year
- the distance light travels in one year
- discover
- to find something for the first time
Level 2 — Elementary
The European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope has discovered 31 of the most ancient quasars ever documented, according to findings published on July 6, 2026 in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Quasars are the incredibly bright centers of distant galaxies, powered by supermassive black holes pulling in huge amounts of gas and dust.
Two of the newly found quasars are the earliest ever observed. Named EUCL J172902.75+641018.1 and EUCL J125308.55+705432.3, they shone with the light of a trillion suns when the universe was just 670 million years old, only about five percent of its current age. Their light has taken roughly 13 billion years to reach Earth, offering scientists a direct window into the early universe.
In just two years of operation, Euclid has doubled the number of ancient quasars known to science. Of the 31 quasars in the new set, 12 date back to within the universe's first 770 million years, a period scientists consider critical for understanding how galaxies and black holes first formed.
Scientists say these discoveries help answer a puzzling question: how did such enormous black holes grow so large so quickly after the Big Bang? Euclid's wide field of view lets it scan huge areas of the sky, making it especially good at spotting rare, extremely distant objects like these ancient quasars.
- supermassive black hole
- an extremely large black hole found at the center of most galaxies
- journal (scientific)
- a publication where scientists share peer-reviewed research
- trillion
- the number one followed by twelve zeros
- field of view
- the total area a telescope or instrument can observe at once
- Big Bang
- the event scientists believe began the expansion of the universe
- redshift
- a stretching of light that tells astronomers how far away and how old an object is
- distant
- far away in space
- operation (mission)
- the period during which a spacecraft or instrument is actively working
Level 3 — Intermediate
The European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope has identified 31 of the most ancient quasars ever documented, according to research published on July 6, 2026 in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Quasars are extraordinarily luminous galactic nuclei powered by supermassive black holes actively accreting gas and dust, and they serve as some of the brightest beacons visible across cosmic distances.
Two objects in the new sample, designated EUCL J172902.75+641018.1 and EUCL J125308.55+705432.3, stand out as the earliest quasars ever observed, with measured redshifts of 7.77 and 7.69 respectively. Both shone with the luminosity of a trillion suns when the universe was a mere 670 million years old, just five percent of its present age, and their light has traveled roughly 13 billion years to reach Euclid's detectors.
In just two years of scientific operations, Euclid has effectively doubled the total number of ancient quasars known to astronomers. Twelve of the 31 newly catalogued objects date to within the universe's first 770 million years, a formative epoch that researchers regard as essential for understanding the earliest stages of galaxy and black hole formation.
The discoveries sharpen a long-standing puzzle in astrophysics: how supermassive black holes managed to grow to billions of solar masses within the universe's first several hundred million years, a timescale that strains conventional models of black hole growth. Euclid's unusually wide field of view, capable of surveying vast swaths of sky in a single pass, gives it a distinct advantage in locating such intrinsically rare, extremely distant objects.
- galactic nucleus
- the central region of a galaxy
- accrete
- to gradually gather matter through gravitational pull
- luminosity
- the total amount of light energy an object emits
- redshift
- the stretching of light toward longer wavelengths caused by an object's distance and motion
- formative epoch
- an early period during which fundamental structures first take shape
- solar mass
- a unit of mass equal to the mass of the Sun, used to measure large astronomical objects
- conventional model
- an established, widely accepted scientific explanation
- swath
- a broad strip or area
Level 4 — Advanced
The European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope has identified 31 of the most ancient quasars ever documented, according to findings published on July 6, 2026 in Astronomy & Astrophysics. Quasars represent extraordinarily luminous active galactic nuclei, powered by supermassive black holes accreting prodigious quantities of surrounding gas and dust, and they rank among the most energetically extreme phenomena observable across cosmological distances.
Two objects within the new sample, catalogued as EUCL J172902.75+641018.1 and EUCL J125308.55+705432.3, constitute the earliest quasars yet observed, with spectroscopically measured redshifts of 7.77 and 7.69 respectively. Both radiated with the luminosity of roughly a trillion Suns when the universe was merely 670 million years old, a mere five percent of its current age, with their light having traversed approximately 13 billion light-years en route to Euclid's detectors.
Within just two years of scientific operations, Euclid has effectively doubled the cumulative inventory of ancient quasars known to astronomers, a testament to the instrument's survey efficiency. Twelve of the 31 newly catalogued objects date to within the universe's first 770 million years, a formative epoch that theorists regard as pivotal for constraining models of primordial galaxy assembly and supermassive black hole seeding.
These discoveries substantially sharpen a persistent tension in astrophysical theory: reconciling the observed masses of billions of solar masses achieved by these early black holes with the comparatively brief timescale, under a billion years, available for conventional accretion-driven growth to occur. Euclid's exceptionally wide field of view, capable of surveying vast celestial swaths in single observational passes, confers a decisive advantage in locating such intrinsically rare, high-redshift targets, and researchers anticipate the mission will continue to expand the census of early-universe quasars as its survey progresses.
- active galactic nucleus
- the compact, highly energetic core of a galaxy powered by a supermassive black hole
- spectroscopically
- determined through the analysis of light split into its component wavelengths
- cumulative inventory
- the total accumulated count of known items or objects
- primordial
- existing from the very earliest stages of the universe
- seeding (black hole)
- the initial formation process that gives rise to a black hole's earliest mass
- reconcile (theory)
- to make two seemingly conflicting facts or theories consistent with each other
- accretion-driven growth
- the process by which an object gains mass by pulling in surrounding matter
- census (astronomical)
- a comprehensive catalog or count of objects of a given type
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