UQ341

UQ341 is a type of quasar, a highly luminous active galactic nucleus. It is located in the constellation of Leo, approximately 3.5 billion light-years away from Earth. Quasars are powered by supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies, which accrete matter at incredibly high rates, emitting vast amounts of energy across the electromagnetic spectrum.

UQ341 was first identified in 2019 as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Its designation, UQ341, comes from the "UnWISE" catalog, which is a catalog of objects detected by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission. The "UQ" prefix stands for "UnWISE quasar," and the "341" is a unique identifier assigned to the object.

UQ341 is notable for its extreme properties. It is one of the most luminous quasars known, with a bolometric luminosity of approximately 10^47 erg/s. This is roughly equivalent to the luminosity of 10 trillion suns. The quasar's black hole is estimated to have a mass of around 10 billion solar masses, making it one of the most massive black holes known.

The study of UQ341 and other quasars like it provides valuable insights into the early universe, the formation and evolution of supermassive black holes, and the processes that drive the extreme luminosities observed in these objects. Ongoing research continues to uncover more about the nature and behavior of UQ341 and its place in the cosmos.