The James Webb Space Telescope discovered the oldest black hole, dating back 13 billion years.
This period corresponds to the dawn of the universe, approximately 400 years after the Big Bang. Observations led by the University of Cambridge suggest that this colossal black hole is "eating its galaxy to death".
Massive black holes are believed to form from the remnants of giant stars as they undergo a process known as gravitational collapse, reports space.com.
According to conventional models, a black hole usually has a mass of about a hundred times the mass of the Sun, however, what has surprised experts the most is the extremely massive mass of the black hole, which is several million times more greater than the mass of the Sun.
It takes billions of years for a black hole to become supermassive. This raises the question of how black holes form and spread in such a short time. The researchers believe the results imply alternative pathways for the formation of black holes.
"It's too early in the universe to see such a big hole, so we need to consider other ways it could have formed," said lead author, Professor Roberto Maiolino.
For example, they may appear as quite massive "creatures" and may also have the ability to absorb matter five times faster than previously thought.
"Early galaxies were extremely rich in gas, so they were a boon for black holes," Maiolino added.
The ancient black hole is rapidly consuming matter from its host galaxy called GN-z11. Observations show that this galaxy emits intense radiation from the energetic black hole at its center.
GN-z11 is a compact galaxy about a hundred times smaller than our own Milky Way. When black holes are actively consuming, they eject gas at an extremely fast rate, similar to an ultrafast wind. This "wind" has the potential to stop the process of star formation, which gradually leads to the extinction of the galaxy.
At the same time, it poses a threat to the black hole itself, because it cuts off the source of the black hole's existence. /Telegraph/
