Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery by finding a colossal black hole near the dawn of time, and it appears to be quite hungry. The James Webb Space Telescope, known for its remarkable observations, has detected the farthest supermassive black hole to date, residing in one of the earliest galaxies in the universe.
Black holes, once considered merely a theoretical concept, have now become a widely accepted scientific phenomenon. These mysterious entities, which lack a discernible surface and instead possess an ‘event horizon,’ continue to intrigue astronomers and astrophysicists alike.
The supermassive black hole was located at the core of GN-z11, an exceptionally luminous galaxy that existed when the universe was a mere 430 million years old, a fraction of its current age of nearly 14 billion years. This finding, recently published in the journal Nature and featured by NASA during its Black Hole Week campaign, sheds light on the early formation of these cosmic giants.
While stellar black holes are thought to originate from the collapse of massive stars, the formation of supermassive black holes remains a mystery. These colossal entities, millions to billions of times more massive than the sun, are believed to reside at the centers of most galaxies.
Recent observations by the Hubble Space Telescope suggest that supermassive black holes may have their origins in the dense cores of starburst galaxies, where stars are rapidly born. However, the exact mechanisms behind the formation of these enigmatic structures are still being investigated.
A team of scientists utilizing the capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope was able to identify the presence of a central black hole in GN-z11 through various indicators. The detection of dense gas commonly associated with supermassive black holes accreting matter, as well as the presence of electrically charged chemicals typical of active black holes, provided compelling evidence of the black hole’s existence in GN-z11.
