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Distant Quasar Defies Models With 13× Eddington Growth and Powerful Jets

Researchers say a brief, extreme feeding surge likely driven by a sudden gas influx could illuminate how early supermassive black holes grew so quickly.

Overview

  • The object, dubbed ID830, is observed from about 12 billion years ago with an estimated mass of roughly 440 million Suns.
  • Multiwavelength measurements, including ultraviolet and X-ray data, indicate an accretion rate around 13 times the classical Eddington limit.
  • ID830 shows a bright X-ray–emitting corona alongside strong radio jets, a pairing many models do not expect during such extreme accretion.
  • The team proposes a transient trigger such as shredding a massive giant star or engulfing a large gas cloud, with the super-Eddington phase lasting on the order of centuries.
  • The peer-reviewed results, led by researchers at Waseda and Tohoku Universities and published Jan. 21 in The Astrophysical Journal, point to follow-up observations and searches for similar quasars.