---
title: "Pōniuāʻena"
url: "https://spacecatalog.org/object/poniuaena"
release: "DR1"
licence: "CC-BY-4.0"
citation: "SpaceCatalog. Pōniuāʻena [catalogue entry]. Data release DR1 (2026-08-21). https://spacecatalog.org/object/poniuaena"
---

# Pōniuāʻena

Pōniuāʻena is a quasar in the constellation [Pegasus](https://spacecatalog.org/constellation/pegasus), 206.3 Gly from Earth. Its mass is 1.5×10⁹ M☉. Other catalogues list it as Poniuaena and PSO J323.1382+12.2986. It was discovered in 2020.

Named in Hawaiian for an unseen brilliance surrounding a source of creation. A billion and a half solar masses 700 million years after the Big Bang: to reach that size in that time it has to have started from a seed of at least ten thousand suns, which is not how [black holes](https://spacecatalog.org/black-holes) are usually made.

## At a glance

- **WHAT IT IS:** Quasar
- **HOW FAR:** 206.3 Gly — A luminosity distance, from its redshift — how faint it looks. The light itself left 12.5 billion years ago.
- **WHERE TO LOOK:** [Pegasus](https://spacecatalog.org/constellation/pegasus) — The patch of sky it sits in, as seen from Earth.

## Properties

| Quantity | Value |
| --- | --- |
| CLASS | Quasar |
| MASS | 1.5×10⁹ M☉ |
| DISTANCE FROM EARTH | 206.3 Gly — by luminosity distance from a published redshift, flat ΛCDM with H0 = 70 km/s/Mpc |
| CONSTELLATION | Pegasus |
| RIGHT ASCENSION (J2000) | 21h 32m 33.2s |
| DECLINATION (J2000) | +12° 17′ 55.1″ |
| DISCOVERED | 2020 |

## Catalogue data

### WHAT KIND OF THING IT IS

What the object is in itself, rather than how it happens to look from here.

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Accretion state | quasar — a thin disc near its Eddington limit |
| Mass | 1.5×10⁹ M☉ |

### WHERE IT IS AND HOW IT MOVES

Position, motion across the sky and the size it covers on it. These are measurements of the object as seen from here, so every one of them depends on where here is.

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Redshift (z) | 6.5872 |

## Also known as

- Common name: Poniuaena
- Common name: Pōniuāʻena
- Common name: PSO J323.1382+12.2986

## Source

[SpaceCatalog curated data](https://spacecatalog.org/releases) — CC-BY-4.0

How this was made: https://spacecatalog.org/methods#source-curated

## Cite this page

SpaceCatalog. Pōniuāʻena \[catalogue entry\]. Data release DR1 (2026-08-21). https://spacecatalog.org/object/poniuaena

```bibtex
@misc{spacecatalog_poniuaena,
  author       = {{SpaceCatalog}},
  title        = {{Pōniuāʻena}},
  howpublished = {SpaceCatalog, data release DR1 (2026-08-21)},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://spacecatalog.org/object/poniuaena},
  note         = {Catalogue entry, data release DR1 (2026-08-21). Values from SpaceCatalog curated data.}
}
```

SpaceCatalog curated data — CC-BY-4.0

The page itself, with its pictures, the sky map and the observing tools: https://spacecatalog.org/object/poniuaena