Euclid finds the most ancient quasars in the universe so far

The Euclid space telescope has discovered 31 new quasars, including the 2 most distant and most ancient quasars yet known. The post Euclid finds the most ancient quasars in the universe so far first appeared on EarthSky. The science-journalism coverage adds useful context, while the strongest evidential footing still comes from the underlying data, papers or institutional documentation.

The significance lies in astrophysics becomes persuasive only when an observed signal can be tied to a physically defensible explanation. Compact objects such as neutron stars and black holes are natural laboratories for extreme physics, but the distance and complexity of these systems make interpretation difficult without multi-wavelength coverage and careful modeling. A detection without a mechanism is only half a result. the other half comes from showing that the signal fits quantitatively inside a coherent physical picture rather than merely being consistent with a broad family of models. Of the 31 newly discovered quasars by the Euclid space telescope, 2 are the most ancient quasars yet found. Support EarthSky’s 2026 Donation Campaign and help keep science accessible.

Euclid finds the most ancient quasars in the universe so far ESA said on July 6, 2026, that the Euclid space telescope has discovered 31 of the most ancient quasars yet known. The map below shows the location of the 31 new quasars Euclid discovered in relation to our Milky Way galaxy.

| This map shows the locations of the 31 quasars Euclid discovered. But of the 31 new quasars Euclid discovered, the Keck Observatory has already followed up with confirmation observations on 21 of them.

The 31 quasars imaged by Euclid include 12 that date to the first 770 million years of the universe. Two others, the oldest ever documented, formed during the universe’s first 670 million years, and their light has taken some 13 billion light-years to reach Earth.

The broader interest lies in turning an observational clue into something that can be weighed against competing models of the underlying physics. Astrophysics does not have the luxury of controlled experiments; everything is inferred from radiation that traveled across cosmic distances under conditions that cannot be reproduced in a terrestrial laboratory. This makes the interpretation chain longer and more uncertain than in bench science, but it also means that a well-constrained measurement of an extreme object carries theoretical information that no earthbound experiment can provide.

| Here are 15 quasars that Euclid discovered, including the 2 most distant in red. Will Euclid be able to find a quasar with a redshift of 8 or larger.

Because this item comes through EarthSky as science journalism, it should be treated as contextual reporting rather than primary evidence. Good science reporting can identify why a result matters, connect it to the wider literature and make technical work readable, but the decisive evidence remains in the original paper, dataset, mission release or technical record. That distinction is especially important when a story is later repeated by aggregators, because repetition increases visibility, not evidential strength.

The next step is to see whether independent datasets and physical modeling converge on the same interpretation. Multi-wavelength follow-up, combining X-ray, radio and optical data where possible, is typically what separates a compelling detection from a robust physical characterization. In high-energy astrophysics, results that initially looked definitive have been revised when data from a second messenger arrived; the current result should be read with that history in mind.

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