Chandra spots surprisingly strong black hole jet at ‘cosmic noon’

Deep Dive: Ancient Black Hole Jets

* NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and VLA detected two supermassive black hole jets, 11.6 and 11.7 billion light-years distant, which are powerfully illuminated by the dense early cosmic microwave background.
* The extreme luminosity of relativistic jets means electrons in the J1610+1811 jet, moving at 92-98% light speed, boost cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons into X-ray bands. This enables their detection despite vast distances and small angular separation from their quasar hosts.
* The novel method, presented by Jaya Maithil (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian) at AAS 2025, accurately separates jet speed from viewing angle. This breakthrough provides crucial insights for astrophysical models of cosmic jet evolution and galaxy development.

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