Some of the sharpest objects in the universe are thought to hold the\nkey to understanding how galaxies evolve, particularly when gravity\ntransforms them into giant cosmic magnifying glasses. By utilising\nartificial intelligence (AI) to process data from the Dark Energy\nSpectroscopic Instrument (DESI), astronomers have identified seven new\nquasar candidates that act as gravitational lenses. This phenomenon\noccurs when the gravity of a massive object bends and magnifies the\nlight from an object located much further behind it.<\/p>\n
According to an official statement from The Ohio State University,\nthese rare systems could help researchers gain deeper insight into the\nevolution of actively growing supermassive black holes. \u201cQuasars are\nlike baby pictures of supermassive black holes,\u201d said Everett McArthur,\nlead author of the study and a graduate student in astronomy at The Ohio\nState University. \u201cSo, studying how you go from a quasar to a black hole\nis really important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quasars are extremely bright galactic centres powered by supermassive\nblack holes actively consuming matter. Studying these objects helps\nresearchers understand how black holes grow to the enormous sizes found\nin the modern universe. However, the process of accreting gas and dust\nreleases so much energy that the quasar outshines its entire host\ngalaxy, making the galaxy itself very difficult to observe. The rare\ncondition where a quasar acts as a gravitational lens provides a\nsolution, offering astronomers a unique opportunity to study both the\nquasar and the distant galaxy whose light is magnified by its\ngravity.<\/p>\n
Finding these rare cosmic alignments is notoriously difficult. To\nuncover them, the research team started with a catalogue of\napproximately 800,000 quasars identified by DESI. They then used a\nmachine learning model to search for subtle traces of gravitational\nlensing. Because so few lensed quasars exist, the researchers had\nlimited real-world data to train the AI. Instead, they created simulated\nexamples of these cosmic alignments for the algorithm to learn from\nbefore scanning the DESI catalogue. The algorithm narrowed the search\ndown to about 200 candidates, which were then reviewed manually,\nyielding seven new quasar lens candidates. This discovery is expected to\ndouble the number of such systems found through survey methods and\nhighlights the immense scientific potential hidden within modern\nastronomy\u2019s vast datasets. Further observations are needed to confirm\nthese newly identified candidates and study their properties in greater\ndetail. If verified, these phenomena will provide astronomers with a\npowerful new way to investigate how supermassive black holes shape the\ngalaxies around them.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ai-discovers-seven-new-cosmic-magnifying-glasses-to-unlock-black-hole-secrets-1785732637", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }