Free Astronomy Magazine May-June 2025

48 MAY-JUNE 2025 ASTRO PUBLISHING forming luminous galactic cores, called quasars, that expel jets of en- ergetic matter. These jets can be de- tected with radio telescopes up to large distances. In our local Universe these radio jets are not uncommon, with a small fraction being found in nearby galaxies, but they have re- mained elusive in the distant, early Universe until now. Using a combination of telescopes, astronomers have discovered a dis- tant, two-lobed radio jet that spans an astonishing 200,000 light-years at least — twice the width of the Milky Way. This is the largest radio jet ever found this early in the his- tory of the Universe. The jet was first identified using the interna- tional Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) Telescope, a network of radio tele- scopes throughout Europe. Follow-up observations in the near- infrared with the Gemini Near-In- The largest radio jet ever seen in the early Universe F rom decades of astronomical observations scientists know that most galaxies contain mas- sive black holes at their centers. The gas and dust falling into these black holes liberates an enormous amount of energy as a result of friction, by NOIRLab − Josie Fenske