[00:05.62]34) Ancient Quasar
[00:11.96]Astronomers have discovered what they say is one of the earliest known structures ever to form in the universe.
[00:20.82]It is a star-like object called a quasar.
[00:24.76]Quasars are very large.
[00:27.69]They produce huge amounts of energy, up to ten thousand times that produced by our solar system.
[00:35.74]Astronomers believe the energy of a quasar is produced by a huge black hole that attracts surrounding matter.
[00:45.77]Several teams of scientists found the ancient object in the constellation Cetus.
[00:52.82]The teams used two telescopes.
[00:55.33]One is the Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory in California.
[01:01.57]The other is the National Science Foundation's 'telescope at Kitt Peak in Arizona.
[01:08.78]Scientists at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii did a special study of the object's light.
[01:15.94]Daniel Stern is an astronomer with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
[01:24.69]He played an important part in the recent discovery.
[01:28.92]He says the distant object looked very much like a star.
[01:33.75]However, study of the light from the object proved it to be a quasar.
[01:39.34]He said further study showed the quasar is extremely old.
[01:44.54]Tests showed that light from the object takes about 13,000,000,000,000 light years to reach Earth.
[01:52.54]Scientists say that means the quasar existed at a time when the universe was less than 8% of its current age.
[02:01.94]Tests of the red light from an object in space
[02:06.33]can show how fast the object is moving away from us as the universe expands.
[02:13.77]The faster it moves away, the more its light appears to be a red color.
[02:19.02]Mister Stern says finding a quasar at that distance is like turning on a flashlight at the edge of the universe.
[02:29.19]He says quasars act like very bright flashlights because they are brighter than distant galaxies.
[02:37.62]He says this permits astronomers to study everything that has ever developed between Earth and the quasar.
[02:46.27]Mister Stern says the newly discovered quasar will add to the knowledge
[02:52.75]of how matter spread in the early history of the universe.
[02:57.29]He says it also will help show how black holes |