Astronomers Identify New Class of ‘Black Hole Star’ Using James Webb Telescope
Researchers analyzing James Webb Space Telescope data have identified a previously unknown type of celestial object—a dense gas cloud surrounding a massive black hole that emits light far brighter than typical stars.
Astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have reported the discovery of a new class of astronomical object, dubbed a “black hole star.” The object consists of a massive black hole, roughly 100,000 times the Sun’s mass, enveloped by a dense cloud of gas that radiates intense energy, making it up to 100 billion times brighter than an ordinary star. The finding emerged while the team was searching for the most distant known galaxy, Mom-Z14, when they noticed an unusually bright red dot in the image. Similar red dots have appeared in many deep-space observations by Webb, but this one stood out for its luminosity.
Computer simulations conducted by the researchers suggest that the brightness results from energy emitted by the black hole and its accretion disk passing through the surrounding gas cloud, a configuration distinct from the flat accretion disks previously observed. The objects appear only in observations of the early universe, indicating they existed when the cosmos was less than a billion years old and have not been detected in more recent epochs.
“All you need is a black hole 100,000 times more massive than the Sun and a cloud of gas to entirely surround it,” the study notes.
The discovery opens a new avenue for studying the growth of supermassive black holes, as the enveloped gas may represent an early stage in their evolution. Further observations and theoretical work are needed to understand the prevalence and lifecycle of these black-hole-powered stars.