搜寻高红移类星体

2015年，以中国天文学家为主的国际研究团队宣布发现了目前已知的宇宙早期发光本领最强、中心黑洞质量最大的类星体。这颗类星体SDSS J0100＋2802如同一座最明亮的灯塔照亮了人类探索神秘的早期宇宙的道路，它的发现刷新了人类使用2米级望远镜发现高红移类星体的纪录，更对宇宙早期黑洞的成长理论提出了新的挑战。文章将着重介绍：(1)类星体的发现；(2)类星体的本质以及描述其物理性质的参数；(3)研究类星体的重大科学意义；(4)类星体尤其是高红移类星体的搜寻方法；(5)最亮的高红移类星体的发现历程；(6)对今后高红移类星体研究的展望。

The search for high-redshift quasars

In 2015, an international team consisting of mainly Chinese astronomers announced the discovery of the most luminous quasar in the early Universe, powered by the most massive black hole known at the time. The discovery of this quasar, named SDSS J0100+2802,set a new record in the discovery of high redshift quasars with 2-meter telescopes, and sheds light just like a lighthouse to help us know more about the early Universe. Moreover, it presents substantial challenges to theories of the formation and growth of black holes in the early Universe.This article will discuss the following topics: (1) the historical discovery of quasars; (2) the nature of quasars and parameters to describe them; (3) the scientific motivation to study quasars; (4) the ways to select quasars, especially high redshift quasars; (5) how we discovered the quasar SDSS J0100+2802; (6) a perspective of future research on high redshift quasars.