# Astronomers stunned after James Webb Space Telescope discovers the earliest pair of black hole-powered quasars

Source: [Latest from Space.com](https://www.space.com/astronomy/black-holes/astronomers-stunned-after-james-webb-space-telescope-discovers-the-earliest-pair-of-black-hole-powered-quasars) · 2026-11-12 · Space
Page: https://themorning.science/story/astronomers-stunned-after-james-webb-space-telescope-discovers-the-earliest-pair-6e0109ec1ac41477
Kind: research · Impact: medium

## In brief

- JWST, with help from Gemini North, has identified what is described as the earliest known pair of supermassive black hole-powered quasars.
- Space.com reports astronomers were surprised, as such a pair was not expected to exist at that early epoch.
- The source excerpt is truncated, so further details on distances, masses and methods are not available from the provided text.

## Why it matters

If confirmed, the discovery would show that supermassive black holes were already powering quasars in pairs very early in cosmic history, challenging models of how such black holes formed and grew.

## Timeline

- 2026-11-12: Space.com reports the discovery of the earliest known pair of black hole-powered quasars by JWST

## Coverage

- [Astronomers stunned after James Webb Space Telescope discovers the earliest pair of black hole-powered quasars](https://www.space.com/astronomy/black-holes/astronomers-stunned-after-james-webb-space-telescope-discovers-the-earliest-pair-of-black-hole-powered-quasars) — Latest from Space.com, 2026-11-12

Tags: james webb space telescope, quasars, supermassive black holes, early universe, gemini north

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Brief generated by AI (claude-haiku-5-5) from the reporting listed under Coverage. Headlines belong to their publishers. The Morning Science – https://themorning.science