Elizabeth Howell, Ph.D., is a contributing writer for Space.com since 2012. As a proud Trekkie and Canadian, she tackles topics like spaceflight, diversity, science fiction, astronomy and gaming to help others explore the universe. Elizabeth's on-site reporting includes two human spaceflight launches from Kazakhstan, and embedded reporting from a simulated Mars mission in Utah. She holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, and a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University. Her latest book, NASA Leadership Moments, is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday.
The team spotted the object in archival data gathered by thethrough a project called the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey , which links Hubble and other space observatories to survey the deep universe, according to the Space Telescope Research Institute in Baltimore, which operates Hubble.
"GNz7q is a unique discovery that was found just at the center of a famous, well-studied sky field — it shows that big discoveries can often be hidden just in front of you," Gabriel Brammer, a co-author on the new research and an astronomer at the Niels Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen, said in a.
, Pascal Oesch , Rychard Bouwens , I. Labbe , Cosmic Dawn Center/Niels Bohr Institute/University of Copenhagen, Denmark) Researchers think that GNz7q represents a transition phase that has not yet been spotted so early in the universe's history. The object's origins may tell scientists more about how supermassive black holes evolve, as it may reveal more about how the interplay of gas and dust could influence the growth of a black hole, the team suggested.