TON 618

TON 618, also known as Tonantzintla-618, is one of the most interesting objects in the night sky. It is a very bright type of object called a quasar. This amazing object is about 18.2 billion light-years away from Earth.

What makes TON 618 special is the huge black hole at its center. Scientists think this black hole is one of the largest ever found. Its great distance helps us learn about the early universe and how big black holes form and grow.

TON 618 is also a special kind of quasar and a Lyman-alpha blob. This means it shines very brightly and has special features in its light. Its distance and massive black hole make it important for astronomers studying space and the universe's history.

Because of its location near the border of two constellations, Canes Venatici and Coma Berenices, TON 618 is a key subject for learning about the vastness of space.

Observational history

Quasars were not recognized until 1963. In 1957, TON 618 was found in a sky survey. It looked like a faint blue star in photos taken with a telescope in Mexico. It was listed as number 618 in the Tonantzintla Catalogue.

In 1970, a radio survey in Italy found radio signals from TON 618. This showed it was a quasar. More observations proved that TON 618 was very far away and one of the brightest quasars known.

Components

TON 618 is a very bright object in space called a quasar. Scientists think it has a huge black hole at its center. This black hole is one of the biggest ever found, maybe as big as 40 to 66 billion times the mass of our Sun!

TON 618 is special because it gives off a lot of light in a specific color called the Lyman-alpha line. In 2021, telescopes found a giant cloud of gas around TON 618. This cloud is one of the biggest known objects in space, about 330,000 light-years across—twice the width of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. The light from TON 618 makes this gas glow brightly. Studying TON 618 helps scientists learn about how big galaxies like our own formed and grew long ago.