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Astronomers discover extremely rare supermassive red black hole

Ihor Romanko

Scientists using the Webb Telescope discovered a rare red black hole (illustrative photo)
Scientists using the Webb Telescope discovered a rare red black hole (illustrative photo). Source: life.fakty.com.ua

Imagine a black hole so red that it is almost impossible to see. This discovery is a significant step in our understanding of the early Universe and how black holes and galaxies form.

Astronomers using the James Webb telescope have found just such a thing, EurekAlert writes. This black hole is incredibly massive and has existed since the early Universe, when it was only 700 million years old.

Read also: For the first time, astronomers saw a galaxy without a single star

What is interesting about this black hole?

  • It is extremely red: Its color is due to a thick layer of dust that blocks most of the light.
  • Incredibly massive: Its mass is 100 million times that of the Sun!
  • One of the oldest: The black hole formed when the Universe was only 700 million years old.
  • Opens up new questions: Its existence challenges theories about how black holes and galaxies form.

How was it found?

  • Using the James Webb Telescope, astronomers studied a cluster of galaxies that is 4 billion light-years away from Earth.
  • Gravitational lensing helped them to examine galaxies outside the cluster in detail.
  • They found three very compact but red objects that turned out to be images of the same source, a black hole.

What's next?

  • Scientists plan to use other instruments of the Webb Telescope to study the black hole and its surroundings.
  • They will look for similar objects in the distant Universe.

Read also about a comet that is three times larger than Mount Everest - it exploded in space and is approaching the Earth.

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