Webb Space Telescope Discovers Distant Black Hole, Unveiling Potential for More

A groundbreaking discovery has been made by astronomers utilizing the Webb Space Telescope, as they have identified the most distant black hole to date. However, this record-setting finding may not hold for long.

Located at the heart of a galaxy that emerged a mere 570 million years after the Big Bang, this black hole brings us 100 million years closer to the origins of the cosmos than its predecessor identified by a Chinese team in 2021, employing a telescope in Chile.

Although Webb has already detected other black holes that appear to have formed even nearer to the Big Bang roughly 14 billion years ago, these remarkable findings are still undergoing scrutiny. Steven Finkelstein, an astronomer from the University of Texas at Austin and one of the lead researchers, mentioned that their discovery has been accepted for publication by the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The Texas-led team highlights the need for additional observations due to the weak signals emitted by this particular black hole.

Beyond this individual find, there exist countless dormant black holes, some even more remote than the one discovered. Unfortunately, without luminous gas emissions, these invisible entities remain undetectable, as Finkelstein explains.

Discovered in February, this specific black hole is currently active but relatively modest in size compared to others, equivalent to approximately 9 million times the mass of our sun. It is comparable in magnitude to the black hole within our own Milky Way galaxy, as noted by the research team.

Furthermore, utilizing the capabilities of the Webb telescope, the team also identified two smaller black holes from the early universe, dating back approximately 1 billion years after the Big Bang. These findings suggest that downsized versions of black holes may have been more prevalent during the formation of the cosmos than previously believed.

Dale Kocevski, from Colby College and a member of the team, emphasized the likelihood of numerous undiscovered “little monsters” waiting to be unveiled.

Launched in late 2021, Webb stands as the largest and most powerful telescope ever deployed in space. NASA released its initial images and scientific results with great excitement a year ago this week.

The Big Big News Health and Science Department is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP retains full responsibility for all content.

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• Webb Space Telescope
• Astrophysical Journal Letters
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