Fingerprint of the early Universe

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href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/auxiliarytelescopes/"> Auxiliary Telescopes </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/"> Survey Telescopes <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-301" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vista/"> VISTA <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-302" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vista/mirror/"> The VISTA mirror </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vista/camera/"> VIRCAM </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vista/4most/"> 4MOST </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vista/surveys/"> The VISTA surveys </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vista/consortium/"> The VISTA consortium </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vst/"> VST <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-308" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vst/mirror/"> The VST mirrors </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vst/camera/"> OmegaCAM </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vst/surveys/"> The VST surveys 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</a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/ntt/"> New Technology Telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-318" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/ntt/efosc2/"> EFOSC2 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/ntt/emmi/"> EMMI </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/ntt/irspec/"> IRSPEC </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/ntt/sofi/"> SOFI </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/ntt/soxs/"> SOXS </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/ntt/susi2/"> SUSI and SUSI2 </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/36/"> ESO 3.6-metre telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span 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href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/coude/"> Coudé Auxiliary Telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-372" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/coude/ces/"> CES </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/marly/"> MarLy 1-metre telescope </a></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/09metre/"> Dutch 0.9-metre telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-375" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/09metre/walraven/"> Walraven Photometer </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/t70/"> Swiss T70 telescope </a></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/bochum/"> Bochum 0.61-metre telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-378" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/bochum/bochum-scanner/"> Bochum Scanner </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/bochum/bochum-photometer/"> Bochum Photometer </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/danish05/"> Danish 0.5-metre telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-381" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/danish05/danish-two-channel-hb-photometer/"> Two-Channel Hβ Photometer </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/danish05/danish-four-channel-uvby-photometer/"> Four-Channel uvby Photometer </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/danish05/danish-six-channel-uvby-hb-photometer/"> Six-Channel uvby–Hβ Photometer </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/gpo/"> Grand Prisme Objectif telescope </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/swiss04/"> Swiss 0.4-metre telescope </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/marseille/"> Marseille 0.36-metre telescope </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/grb/"> GRB Monitoring System </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/mascara/"> MASCARA </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/blackgem/"> BlackGEM </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/extra/"> ExTrA </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/test-bed/"> Test-Bed Telescope </a></li></ul></li><li 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P-ArTéMiS </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/pi230/"> PI230 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/polka/"> PolKa </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/saboca/"> SABOCA </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/sepia/"> SEPIA </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/shefi/"> SHeFI </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/alma/"> ALMA <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-409" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/alma/antennas/"> Antennas </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/alma/transporters/"> Transporters </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/alma/interferometry/"> Interferometry </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/alma/receiver-bands/"> Receiver Bands </a></li><li 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href="https://www.eso.org/public/science/event-horizon/"> First image of a black hole </a></li><li class=""><a href="https://www.eso.org/public/science/EHT-MilkyWay/"> First image of the Milky Way central black hole </a></li><li class=""><a href="https://www.eso.org/public/science/gc/"> More about the black hole at the galactic centre </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/science/grb/"> Gamma-Ray Bursts </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/science/archive/"> Science Archive </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </li> <li><a href="/public/events/">Events<span class="fa fa-angle-down level0-children-arrows"></span></a> <span class="mobile-children"> <span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span> </span> <div class="level1-wrapper"> <div class="level1"> <ul id="submenu-aim-434" class="submenu-aim"> <li class=""><a href="/public/events/press-evt/"> Press Events </a></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/events/special-evt/"> Special Events <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa 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<div class="container " id="body"> <div class="row no-page"> <div class="col-md-12"> </div> </div> <div class="row page"> <div class="col-md-9 left-column"> <h1>Fingerprint of the early Universe</h1><div class="archive-image archive-image-dark popup"><a class="popup" href="https://cdn.eso.org/images/screen/potw1649a.jpg" title="Fingerprint of the early Universe"/><img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb700x/potw1649a.jpg" alt="Fingerprint of the early Universe" srcset="/public/archives/images/medium/potw1649a.jpg 320w, https://cdn.eso.org/images/news/potw1649a.jpg 180w, /public/archives/images/newsmini/potw1649a.jpg 60w, https://cdn.eso.org/images/screen/potw1649a.jpg 1280w, https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb700x/potw1649a.jpg 700w, /public/archives/images/thumbs/potw1649a.jpg 122w" sizes="(min-width: 1000px) 700px, 100vw" /></a></div><p><p>The most massive galaxies in the Universe host <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermassive_black_hole">supermassive black holes</a> at their centres. These truly colossal black holes chew up surrounding material at astonishing rates, expelling huge amounts of radiation as they do so and glowing as some of the brightest objects in the known Universe! Despite their incredible distances from Earth, the regions surrounding these black holes shine so brightly that their appearance is similar to that of stars in our own galaxy, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way">Milky Way</a>.</p><p>Some of these objects, known as quasi-stellar-objects or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasar">quasars</a> for short, are useful tools to help us better understand the cosmos. Because they lie so far away, there is plenty of intervening space between our telescopes and a target quasar. This space is not empty; it is filled with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warm%E2%80%93hot_intergalactic_medium">intergalactic medium</a>, which mostly comprises clouds of gas — mainly hydrogen and helium, but also with hints of other elements — that absorb light from more distant sources and prevent it from reaching us. The light emitted from bright quasars has to travel through these clouds on its journey to us, and so is partly <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_spectroscopy">absorbed</a>.</p><p>This spectrum, taken by the <a href="https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/vlt/vlt-instr/uves/">UVES</a> instrument mounted on ESO’s <a href="http://eso.org/vlt">Very Large Telescope</a> in Chile, shows the light from a quasar, catchily named HE0940-1050, after it has travelled through such clouds. The vertical lines are tell-tale signs of absorption — they show where light has been absorbed by the gas in the intergalactic medium and thus removed from the original quasar spectrum. The intensity of the lines is linked to the amount of material which is crossed by the light. By analysing these lines, astronomers can infer all sorts of information about the material from which the clouds are made. The exceptional value of this particular spectrum is in the very faint lines which are the faintest ever observed in a quasar spectrum.</p></p><strong>Credit:</strong><div class="credit"><p>ESO<br /><strong>Acknowledgements:</strong> V. D’Odorico (Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Italy)</p></div><div class="copyright"><a href="/public/outreach/copyright/">Usage of ESO Images, Videos, Web texts and Music</a><br /><a href="/public/outreach/pressmedia/#epodpress_form">Are you a journalist? Subscribe to the ESO Media Newsletter in your language.</a></div> </div> <div class="col-md-3 right-column"> <div class="archive-search"><a href="/public/images/search/" class="advanced-search" data-container="body" data-toggle="tooltip" data-placement="left" title="Advanced Search"><span class="fa fa-plus"></span></a><form class="form-inline" role="form" action="/public/images/" method="GET"><div class="form-group"><div class="input-group"><input id="id_archivesearch" type="text" value="" placeholder="Search..." name="search" class="form-control input-sm" /><span class="input-group-btn"><button class="btn btn-default btn-sm" type="submit"><span class="fa fa-search"></span></button></span></div></div></form></div> <div class="object-info"><h3>About the Image</h3><div><table><tr><td class="title">Id:</td><td>potw1649a</td></tr><tr><td class="title">Type:</td><td>Collage</td></tr><tr><td class="title">Release date:</td><td>5 December 2016, 06:00</td></tr><tr><td class="title">Size:</td><td>5951 x 5210 px</td></tr></table></div><hr><h3>About the Object</h3><div><table><tr><td class="title">Name:</td><td><a href="https://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=HE0940-1050">HE0940-1050</a></td></tr><tr><td class="title">Type:</td><td>Early Universe : Galaxy : Activity : AGN : Quasar<br />Early Universe : Galaxy : Component : Central Black Hole</td></tr><tr><td class="title">Distance:</td><td>z=3.0 (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift">redshift</a>)<br /></td></tr><tr><td class="title">Category:</td><td><a href="/public/images/archive/category/blackholes/">Quasars and Black Holes</a><br></td></tr></table></div><hr></div> <div><h3 class="archivegrouptitle" >Image Formats</h3><div class="archive_download"><span class="archive_dl_icon"><img src="/public/archives/djp/icons/icon_phot.1785b79e10fb.png" /></span><span class="archive_dl_text"><a href="https://cdn.eso.org/images/original/potw1649a.tif">Fullsize Original</a></span><span class="archive_dl_size"><div> 21.2 MB <a class="download-info" role="button" tabindex="0" data-toggle="popover" data-html="true" data-trigger="focus" data-placement="bottom" data-content="<strong>Note:</strong><br>Crediting this image with the full credit line, in a visible way is MANDATORY, if you want to use it without paying a fee. The full credit line to use can be found in each image caption."><i class="fa-regular fa-circle-question"></i></a></div></span></div><div class="archive_download"><span class="archive_dl_icon"><img src="/public/archives/djp/icons/icon_phot.1785b79e10fb.png" /></span><span class="archive_dl_text"><a href="https://cdn.eso.org/images/large/potw1649a.jpg">Large JPEG</a></span><span class="archive_dl_size"><div> 2.1 MB </div></span></div><div class="archive_download"><span class="archive_dl_icon"><img src="/public/archives/djp/icons/icon_phot.1785b79e10fb.png" /></span><span class="archive_dl_text"><a href="https://cdn.eso.org/images/publicationtiff/potw1649a.tif">Publication TIFF 4K</a></span><span class="archive_dl_size"><div> 11.2 MB </div></span></div><div class="archive_download"><span class="archive_dl_icon"><img src="/public/archives/djp/icons/icon_phot.1785b79e10fb.png" /></span><span class="archive_dl_text"><a href="https://cdn.eso.org/images/publicationjpg/potw1649a.jpg">Publication JPEG</a></span><span class="archive_dl_size"><div> 1.1 MB </div></span></div><div class="archive_download"><span class="archive_dl_icon"><img src="/public/archives/djp/icons/icon_phot.1785b79e10fb.png" /></span><span class="archive_dl_text"><a href="https://cdn.eso.org/images/screen/potw1649a.jpg">Screensize JPEG</a></span><span class="archive_dl_size"><div> 123.2 KB </div></span></div><hr class="esohr" /></div>  </div> </div> </div>  <div class="row footernote"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-3"> <a href="mailto:information@eso.org">Send us your comments!</a> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-3"> <a href="/public/outreach/newsletters/esonews/">Subscribe to receive news from ESO in your language</a> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-3"> <a href="https://www.cdn77.com">Accelerated by CDN77</a> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-3"> <a href="/public/about-eso/privacy/">Terms & Conditions</a> </div> </div> <link href="/public/archives/djp/css/extras.d3e54451ebbb.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <script type="text/javascript">var MEDIA_URL = "/public/archives/"</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/public/archives/djp/js/main.04a7335af5a0.js" charset="utf-8"></script>  </div>  <div id="social-share" class="hidden-print"> <div class="link facebook" data-toggle="tooltip" data-placement="right" title="Share on Facebook"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1649a/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i class="fa-brands fa-facebook-f" aria-hidden="true"></i></a> </div> <div class="link twitter" data-toggle="tooltip" data-placement="right" title="Share on X/Twitter"> <a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1649a/&text=Fingerprint of the early Universe&via=ESO" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i class="fa-brands fa-x-twitter"></i></i></a> </div> <div class="link pinterest" data-toggle="tooltip" data-placement="right" title="Share on Pinterest"> <a href="https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1649a/&media=&description=Fingerprint of the early Universe" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i class="fa-brands fa-pinterest-p" aria-hidden="true"></i></a> </div> <div class="link print" data-toggle="tooltip" data-placement="right" title="Print"> <a href="javascript:window.print()" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i class="fa fa-print" aria-hidden="true"></i></a> </div> <div class="link email" data-toggle="tooltip" data-placement="right" title="Share by email"> <a href="mailto:%20?subject=ESO — Fingerprint of the early Universe&body=https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1649a/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i class="fa-regular fa-envelope" aria-hidden="true"></i></a> </div> </div> <script> $('[data-toggle="tooltip"]').tooltip(); </script> <input type='hidden' name='csrfmiddlewaretoken' value='oNeqVGvwtlkRBVTfEynZQexMgcSql1i8wauDNYDLhn5d8YVcvSoPoAJahbpUqyTf' /> </body> </html>

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