KATHMANDU, Dec 25: Astronomers have found a massive water reservoir 12 billion light-years away, containing 140 trillion times the volume of all Earth’s oceans. This vast water supply orbits a supermassive black hole, approximately 20 billion times the size of our sun, at the center of a quasar named APM 08279+5255. The quasar, known for its intense energy output, radiates as much energy as a thousand trillion suns.
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This discovery is significant because it is the most distant and largest water reservoir ever identified in the universe. The water is in the form of vapor, spread across a region hundreds of light-years in size, and exists in a unique environment. The surrounding gas is much hotter and denser than typical gases found in other galaxies, with temperatures around -63°F, making it five times hotter than gas in the Milky Way.
Astronomers, led by Matt Bradford from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, observed the environment around the quasar and detected not only water vapor but also other molecules like carbon monoxide, suggesting that there is an abundance of material feeding the black hole. This material could either contribute to the growth of the black hole or form new stars.
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