fullscreen

eFinder

eFinder

Home › Astrophysics › Article

Record ultraviolet quasar wind reaches 30% light speed near supermassive black hole

Phys · · 1049 words · By Sandra McLean
Astrophysics Scientific Discovery Academic Collaboration
headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing
Ready to play
Daily briefing

What to know about Astrophysics

Researchers from York University and other institutions have identified a quasar, J2318, with ultraviolet winds traveling at 30% of the speed of light. The discovery was made using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and confirmed via the Gemini North telescope, highlighting the role of undergraduate students in the research process.

Propaganda risk 10%
Claims checked 12
Techniques found 1
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center67%
Right33%

3 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Record ultraviolet quasar wind reaches 30% light speed near supermassive black hole Gaby Clark Scientific Editor Robert Egan Associate Editor A team led by York University researchers has discovered the fastest wind near a supermassive black hole ever found…

Why it matters

"This quasar has a black hole of 1.7 billion times the mass of the sun.

Common ground

What's not typical is that it has gas moving towards us at 30% of the speed of light," says York Professor Patrick Hall of the Faculty of Science.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Exaggeration / Hyperbole: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Researchers from York University and other institutions have identified a quasar, J2318, with ultraviolet winds traveling at 30% of the speed of light. The discovery was made using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and confirmed via the Gemini North telescope, highlighting the role of undergraduate students in the research process.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ultraviolet-quasar-supermassive-black-hole.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 100%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Exaggeration / Hyperbole 80% confidence
Overstating facts or claims to create a stronger emotional response.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing exaggeration / hyperbole helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 12 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 6
help Insufficient Evidence 2
schedule Pending 2
verified Verified By Reference 1
info Single Source 1
help
Claim 1: “Canada has a share of the eight-meter-diameter Frederick C. Gillett Gemini Telescope (also known as Gemini North) in Hawai'i”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results regarding Canada's share of the Gemini North telescope.
check_circle
Claim 2: “The wind in J2318 can be seen at ultraviolet wavelengths at velocities up to 30% the speed of light.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources (Phys.org, MSN, and others) confirm the wind in J2318 is visible at ultraviolet wavelengths at velocities up to 30% the speed of light.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... "The wind in J2318 can be seen at ultraviolet wavelengths at velocities up to 30% the speed of light. Even faster winds can be seen at X-ray ...
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ultraviolet-quasar-supermassiv…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 6, 2026 ... The outflow, originating from a distant quasar known as J2318, reaches speeds of up to 30 percent of the speed of light, making it the most ...
https://scitechdaily.com/record-breaking-black-hole-wind-bla…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 10, 2026 ... Record-breaking speed: Quasar J2318's ultraviolet wind reaches 30% of light speed, the fastest ever recorded at these wavelengths. Galactic ...
https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/insight/fastest-ultraviolet-b…
check_circle
Claim 3: “A team led by York University researchers has discovered the fastest wind near a supermassive black hole ever found at ultraviolet wavelengths”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent sources (Phys.org, and two other news reports) confirm that a team led by York University researchers discovered the fastest ultraviolet wind near a supermassive black hole.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... A team led by York University researchers has discovered the fastest wind near a supermassive black hole ever found at ultraviolet ...
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ultraviolet-quasar-supermassiv…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... TORONTO, June 4, 2026 – A team led by York University researchers has discovered the fastest wind near a supermassive black hole ever found ...
https://www.yorku.ca/news/2026/06/04/fastest-and-most-furiou…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 11, 2026 ... For 50 years, astronomers have searched for evidence of winds blowing from Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the heart of our own ...
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZcM2tRDZpr/
check_circle
Claim 4: “it has gas moving towards us at 30% of the speed of light”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources (Phys.org and others) confirm that gas in quasar J2318 is moving towards us at 30% of the speed of light.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... "This quasar has a black hole of 1.7 billion times the mass of the sun. That's typical. What's not typical is that it has gas moving towards us ...
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ultraviolet-quasar-supermassiv…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... The wind in J2318 can be seen at ultraviolet wavelengths at velocities up to 30% the speed of light.” Even faster winds have been detected at X- ...
https://www.psu.edu/news/eberly-college-science/story/fastes…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 6, 2026 ... The outflow, originating from a distant quasar known as J2318, reaches speeds of up to 30 percent of the speed of light, making it the most ...
https://scitechdaily.com/record-breaking-black-hole-wind-bla…
check_circle
Claim 5: “This quasar has a black hole of 1.7 billion times the mass of the sun.”
CORROBORATED
Three independent web sources explicitly state that the black hole in quasar J2318 has a mass of 1.7 billion solar masses.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Love Point Light was a screw-pile lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay, off the northern end of Kent Island, Maryland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Point_Light
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — “This quasar has a black hole of 1.7 billion times the mass of the Sun. That’s typical.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1130923
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The black hole at the center of J2318 has a mass of 1.7 billion solar masses. While these are not exceptional parameters for a quasar, the wind associated with it turned out to be unprecedented. Such …
https://universemagazine.com/en/wind-from-quasar-accelerates…
+ 1 more evidence source
schedule
Claim 6: “The SDSS... start in 1998”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
check_circle
Claim 7: “Even faster winds can be seen at X-ray wavelengths, but J2318 is the fastest ever discovered at ultraviolet wavelengths.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm that while faster winds exist at X-ray wavelengths, J2318 is the fastest ever discovered at ultraviolet wavelengths.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 9, 2026 ... "The wind in J2318 can be seen at ultraviolet wavelengths at velocities up to 30% the speed of light. Even faster winds can be seen at X-ray ...
https://www.space.com/astronomy/black-holes/these-record-bre…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 6, 2026 ... The wind in J2318 ... Even faster winds can be seen at X-ray wavelengths, but J2318 is the fastest ever discovered at ultraviolet wavelengths.
https://www.reddit.com/r/astrophysics/comments/1tyc98f/recor…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Dec 29, 2025 ... These winds reached staggering speeds of up to ~60,000 km/s—roughly 0.2 times the speed of light (0.19–0.20c).Key findings from the study:A ...
https://www.facebook.com/groups/828178678983076/posts/140218…
verified
Claim 8: “Astronomers have known for close to three decades that every large galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided Wikipedia and web results discuss the scientific method and general science, but none of the evidence snippets confirm the specific claim that astronomers have known for nearly three decades that every large galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge through careful observation, rigorous skepticism, hypothesis testing, and experimental validation. Developed from ancient and medie…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_method
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — 30 by 30 (or 30 × 30) is a global initiative for governments to designate 30% of Earth's land and ocean area as protected areas by 2030. The target was proposed by a 2019 article in Science Advances, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30_by_30
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe was an irreversible break with the natural philosophy that had preceded it, fundamentally changing how the natural world was investig…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_Revolution
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 9: “J2318 is slowly varying in brightness in a way indistinguishable from other quasars.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
check_circle
Claim 10: “This quasar, known as J2318, can be found in the Great Square in the constellation of Pegasus”
CORROBORATED
Three independent sources quote Lucas Seaton stating that quasar J2318 is located in the Great Square of the constellation Pegasus.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... “The quasar, known as J2318, can be found in the Great Square in the constellation of Pegasus,” said Lucas Seaton, a graduate student at ...
https://www.psu.edu/news/eberly-college-science/story/fastes…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 6, 2026 ... “The quasar, known as J2318, can be found in the Great Square in the constellation of Pegasus,” said Lucas Seaton, a graduate student at ...
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/06/astr06062601.html
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 6, 2026 ... “This quasar, known as J2318 (Jay Twenty-Three Eighteen), can be found in the Great Square in the constellation of Pegasus,” says lead author ...
https://scitechdaily.com/record-breaking-black-hole-wind-bla…
info
Claim 11: “The finding is published in a paper in The Astrophysical Journal.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While web results mention the research and the SDSS, none of the provided evidence snippets explicitly confirm that the specific paper regarding J2318's wind was published in 'The Astrophysical Journal'. One result mentions IOP journals, which is a different publisher.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The recent discovery of billion solar mass SMBHs in luminous z > 7 quasars at the epoch of reionisation poses the most stringent constraints on the masses of ...
https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2022/06/aa43785-…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... In November 2023, my student Marianna Veltri pointed out just such a quasar. The next day I looked at the quasar using software my student ...
https://www.psu.edu/news/eberly-college-science/story/fastes…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... Subject collectionsRead the very best research published in IOP journals ... SDSS is managed by the Astrophysical Research Consortium for the ...
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae5f94
help
Claim 12: “The discovery relied on data from two components of the SDSS... specifically, the SDSS-IV Time-Domain Spectroscopic Survey and the SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results to confirm the use of the SDSS-IV Time-Domain Spectroscopic Survey and the SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.