Researchers have discovered the farthest active black hole ever with the James Webb telescope. It is located in the galaxy CEERS 1019, which formed more than 570 million years after the Big Bang. Its mass is millions of times greater than that of the sun.
In addition to this large black hole, the researchers also identified two smaller black holes that formed 1 and 1.1 billion years after the Big Bang, respectively. The James Webb telescope has also discovered 11 galaxies that existed when the universe was only 470 to 675 million years old.
These discoveries were made possible by the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey, led by Professor Steven Finkelstein of the University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Research leader Rebecca Larson commented: “When you look at this distant object through this telescope, it almost seems like you are studying data from black holes closer to home. There are so many spectral lines to analyze.”
Remarkable
The black hole in CEERS 1019 is notable for its age and its relatively low mass of nine million times the mass of the Sun. This is much lighter than other black holes in the early universe, which are more than a billion times the mass of the sun.
It also bears closer resemblance to the black hole at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy, which has a mass 4.6 million times that of the Sun. It is difficult to explain how this could have arisen so early in the existence of the universe.
In addition, the amount of gas attracted to the black hole affects the rate at which new stars form in the galaxy. The black hole pulls in as much gas as it can and at the same time produces new stars.
According to dr. Jeyhan Kartaltepe, an astronomer at the Rochester Institute of Technology, the activity in the black hole could be caused by the merger of galaxies. This can lead to more star formation.
Dr. Dale Kocevski of Colby College, on the other hand, noted that the presence of dust suggests that the central black hole may be in a galaxy that is actively ejecting stars.
The discovery of these lower-mass black holes in the early universe confirms existing suspicions. Astronomers now believe they can occur anywhere, and that much remains to be discovered.
READ ALSO. Euclid launched: the space telescope that must unravel one of the greatest mysteries of our universe
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