James Webb Space Telescope will study super-bright quasars to understand early universe

[Judi Lynn]

By Elizabeth Howell published about 17 hours ago

Quasars shine so brightly that they eclipse the galaxies in which the objects are embedded.


Some of the James Webb Space Telescope's first science investigations will probe the role that bright objects called quasars played in early galaxy evolution.

Quasars are distant objects powered by black holes typically a billion times as massive as our sun. They emit energies that can climb to trillions of electron volts, exceeding the total output of all the stars in a typical galaxy.

Scientists, Webb officials said in a 2021 statement, "will examine what part quasars play in galaxy evolution during these early times. The team will also use the quasars to study the gas in the space between galaxies in the infant universe."

Webb's perch in deep space, coupled with its extreme sensitivity to low levels of light and high resolution, will make the most detailed set of observations yet possible of these elusive objects, which have only been known to science for about half a century.

More:
https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-quasars-science

[eppur_se_muova]

1. "They emit energies that can climb to trillions of electron volts" ... eV is an intensive quantity,

the total energy emitted is (duh) an extensive quantity. Single particles might have energies in the TeV range, and still represent a small amount of energy.