Astronomers have discovered a completely new type of celestial object: a massive “black hole star,” as large as our entire solar system and with a luminosity approximately 100 billion times greater than that of an ordinary star.
The strange object, named MoM-BH-1*, appears to be a combination of a star and a black hole, according to The Independent. If the researchers’ interpretation is confirmed, it could provide answers to two of the most significant mysteries revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope: what the mysterious “tiny red dots” appearing in images of the early universe are, and how the first supermassive black holes formed so quickly.
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Since the James Webb Space Telescope began operations, scientists have observed small, extremely bright red objects in many images of very distant galaxies, without knowing for certain what they are. The new study, published in the scientific journal *Nature*, suggests that at least some of these may be black holes hidden within massive gas envelopes.
What is the MoM-BH-1 object? In the case of MoM-BH-1, researchers estimate that at its center lies a black hole with a mass approximately 100,000 times greater than that of the Sun. Surrounding it is an extremely dense cloud of gas, so large that the entire structure resembles a giant star the size of our solar system.
However, its energy source is not nuclear fusion, as is the case with normal stars. Its immense brightness appears to be caused by matter falling toward the central black hole and heating up to extreme temperatures.
The object is so far away that the light reaching Earth today began its journey about 13 billion years ago, when the Universe was only 660 million years old. The same study also identified MoM-z14, which is considered the most distant galaxy discovered to date.
How the discovery was made
The discovery was made almost by accident. The team behind the “Mirage or Miracle” project was searching for extremely distant and early galaxies when they noticed a particularly bright red dot. Initially, it was thought that its red color was due to dust, but its light exhibited characteristics that did not fit this explanation.
Simulations showed that the object could consist of a powerful energy source surrounded by hydrogen. But even that did not explain its extraordinary brightness. When the scientists placed a black hole at the center of their models, the results matched the James Webb observations much better.
The researchers believe that MoM-BH*-1 may simply be the first example of an entire class of objects. If it turns out that many of the “little red dots” are similar “black hole stars,” then this might also explain how black holes were able to reach masses of billions of Suns in such a short time after the Big Bang.
Source: cnn.gr
