While radio jets are relatively common in the nearby Universe, they have been elusive in the early Universe. This is partly due to the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the faint afterglow of the Big Bang. The CMB creates a persistent fog of microwave radiation that can drown out the faint radio signals from distant objects.

From decades of astronomical observations, scientists know that most galaxies contain massive black holes at their centers. The gas and dust falling into these black holes liberates an enormous amount of energy as a result of friction,

The giant jet flips the script on the origins of these structures, which were once thought to be linked only to extremely large black holes.

"Interestingly, the quasar powering this massive radio jet does not have an extreme black hole mass compared to other quasars."

The Largest 'Black Hole Jet' Discovered Is Estimated to Be Twice the Size of Our Milky Way We know black holes to be mysterious regions in space where the gravitational pull is so strong that even light can't escape.

Astronomers used an array of telescopes to find the most massive radio jet in the early universe. The celestial object is hundreds of thousands of light-years long.

Astronomers have used a continent-sized radio telescope to find the largest black hole jet ever observed in the early universe.