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Dust-free quasars in the early Universe

Author

Listed:
  • Linhua Jiang

    (Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA)

  • Xiaohui Fan

    (Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
    Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany)

  • W. N. Brandt

    (Pennsylvania State University, 525 Davey Laboratory, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA)

  • Chris L. Carilli

    (National Radio Astronomy Observatory, PO Box 0, Socorro, New Mexico 87801, USA)

  • Eiichi Egami

    (Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA)

  • Dean C. Hines

    (Space Science Institute, 4750 Walnut Street, Suite 205, Boulder, Colorado 80301, USA)

  • Jaron D. Kurk

    (Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
    Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstrasse, D-85748 Garching, Germany)

  • Gordon T. Richards

    (Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA)

  • Yue Shen

    (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, MS-51, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA)

  • Michael A. Strauss

    (Peyton Hall, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA)

  • Marianne Vestergaard

    (Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
    Dark Cosmology Centre, the Niels Bohr Institute, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100, Copenhagen O, Denmark)

  • Fabian Walter

    (Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany)

Abstract

Catching quasars early More than 40 quasars have been discovered at redshifts of z ≈ 6, at an epoch when the Universe was less than a billion years old or just 7% of its current age. Surprisingly, the properties of these distant quasars seem almost indistinguishable from those at lower redshifts, suggesting that they are evolved objects. Now with the discovery of a second z ≈ 6 quasar without hot-dust emission, and evidence from others that hot dust accumulates in tandem with the growth of the central black hole, comes confirmation that these extremely distant quasars are indeed less evolved than their lower-redshift equivalents. The two dust-free quasars may be first-generation quasars born in dust-free environments that are too young to have formed a detectable amount of hot dust around them.

Suggested Citation

  • Linhua Jiang & Xiaohui Fan & W. N. Brandt & Chris L. Carilli & Eiichi Egami & Dean C. Hines & Jaron D. Kurk & Gordon T. Richards & Yue Shen & Michael A. Strauss & Marianne Vestergaard & Fabian Walter, 2010. "Dust-free quasars in the early Universe," Nature, Nature, vol. 464(7287), pages 380-383, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:464:y:2010:i:7287:d:10.1038_nature08877
    DOI: 10.1038/nature08877
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