TON 618

TON 618, also known as Tonantzintla-618, is one of the most fascinating objects in the night sky. It is a very bright type of object called a quasar, located near the border of two constellations, Canes Venatici and Coma Berenices. This amazing object is about 18.2 billion light-years away from Earth.

What makes TON 618 special is the enormous black hole at its center. Scientists believe this black hole is one of the largest ever found, with a mass ranging from 40.7 to 66 billion times that of our Sun. Because of its great distance, studying TON 618 helps us learn about the early universe and how huge black holes form and grow.

TON 618 is also classified as a broad-absorption-line quasar and a Lyman-alpha blob, which means it shines very brightly and has special features in its light that tell us more about its nature. Its great distance and massive black hole make it a key subject for astronomers exploring the vastness of space and the history of the universe.

Observational history

Quasars were not recognized until 1963, so when TON 618 was first noted in a 1957 survey, its nature was unknown. It appeared as a faint blue star on photographic plates taken with a telescope in Mexico and was listed as entry number 618 in the Tonantzintla Catalogue.

In 1970, a radio survey in Italy discovered radio emissions from TON 618, indicating it was a quasar. Further observations showed that TON 618 was very distant and one of the most luminous 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 also 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.