Hey space enthusiasts! 🚀 A team of Chinese astronomers has just unveiled a stellar discovery: 1,300 new quasars hidden behind the Galactic plane. Using China’s Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST), experts from the National Astronomical Observatories, Peking University, the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing Normal University, and Leiden University joined forces to illuminate these cosmic mysteries.
Quasars, the dazzling and energetic cores of active galaxies, act as cosmic lighthouses that help decode the universe’s grand designs—from galaxy formation and the evolution of supermassive black holes to cosmic reionization. Traditionally, the densely packed stars, gas, and dust along the Galactic plane have made it almost impossible to spot these bright objects.
Despite hurdles like heavy dust extinction and dense stellar fields, Professor Wu Xuebing of Peking University and his team pushed forward. As Huo Zhiying from the National Astronomical Observatories explained, these quasars not only fill major gaps in our cosmic map but also offer new ways to probe the interstellar medium and build a precise astrometric reference frame.
This breakthrough opens exciting avenues for cosmic research and deepens our understanding of the universe’s structure and evolution. Stay curious and keep exploring—there's always more to discover in the vast cosmos! ✨
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Chinese astronomers discover 1,300 new quasars behind Galactic plane
cgtn.com
