Found: Ancient, super-bright quasar with massive black hole

Quasars--supermassive black holes found at the center of distant massive galaxies--are the most-luminous beacons in the sky. These central supermassive black holes actively accrete the surrounding materials and release a huge amount of their gravitational energy. An international team of astronomers has discovered the brightest quasar ever found in the early universe, which is powered by the most massive black hole observed for an object from that time.