The James Webb space telescope has bestowed upon scientists the extraordinary ability to explore celestial objects that were once beyond their reach. Surprisingly, it has led to the discovery of ancient galaxies that defy all theoretical expectations. The latest breakthrough comes from the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey, where researchers have made an incredible find—the most remote active supermassive black hole known to date.
Using near- and mid-infrared imagery captured by the James Webb telescope, scientists have successfully identified a supermassive black hole residing in a galaxy named CEERS 1019. Astonishingly, this black hole came into existence a mere 570 million years after the Big Bang and weighs approximately 9 million times the mass of our sun. The telescope’s data also revealed that the black hole is voraciously consuming gas and generating new stars. Jeyhan Kartaltepe, a member of the CEERS team from the Rochester Institute of Technology, hypothesized that a merger between galaxies might be responsible for fueling the activity in the black hole, consequently triggering a surge in star formation. The image below depicts CEERS 1019 as three distinctive bright clusters.
Aside from its record-breaking distance, the CEERS 1019 black hole’s mass of 9 million solar masses differentiates it from other known active supermassive black holes, which typically exceed 1 billion solar masses. These massive counterparts emit significant amounts of light, making them relatively easier to detect. Comparable to the black hole at the center of our galaxy, CEERS 1019 carries a mass roughly 4.6 million times that of our sun. Prior to the James Webb telescope’s operations, scientists had postulated the existence of smaller black holes in the early universe, but it was only through the invaluable data from this awe-inspiring telescope that their presence could be confirmed.
Remarkably, the CEERS Survey team has also managed to identify two additional ancient black holes with relatively smaller masses using the telescope’s data. CEERS 746 materialized 1 billion years after the Big Bang, while CEERS 2782 has existed since 1.1 billion years after this cosmic event. These black holes appear as ordinary galaxies actively forming stars when observed through other instruments. Presently, astronomers are diligently scrutinizing additional distant black holes discovered through the James Webb telescope, meaning that CEERS 1019 may soon relinquish its prominent status.
Steven Finkelstein, the lead researcher of the CEERS team from the University of Texas at Austin, exclaimed, “Previously, our understanding of objects in the early universe was primarily theoretical. With the aid of Webb, not only can we observe black holes and galaxies at extreme distances, but we can also meticulously measure them. This represents the immense power of this groundbreaking telescope.”
The formation of this black hole so soon after the birth of the universe remains an intriguing enigma that puzzles scientists. Nevertheless, the data obtained from the James Webb telescope holds promise for unraveling the mysteries surrounding the genesis of early black holes. In due course, this invaluable information could enable scientists to uncover the formation mechanisms behind these extraordinary cosmic entities.
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