Produced by: Tarun Mishra
Astronomers have discovered a supermassive black hole in a distant galaxy that is consuming matter at an extraordinary rate, surpassing the theoretical Eddington limit by more than 40 times. This finding was made using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and Chandra X-ray Observatory.
The black hole, named LID-568, was observed through JWST's infrared capabilities. The researchers noted unusual outflows of gas surrounding the black hole, which had never been seen before. These observations were published in Nature Astronomy.
LID-568 is located just 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang, making it a critical piece in understanding the growth of supermassive black holes. Existing theories on black hole formation have not been supported by substantial observational evidence—until now.
The Eddington limit is a theoretical boundary that describes the maximum rate at which a black hole can consume matter. LID-568 exceeds this limit by over 40 times, offering new insights into the potential feeding mechanisms of early black holes.
Representative pic
The study suggests that LID-568’s rapid growth may result from a feeding mechanism that allows black holes to exceed the Eddington limit. This provides a potential explanation for how supermassive black holes could form and grow quickly in the early universe.
Due to the faint nature of the black hole, it would have been nearly impossible to detect without the advanced capabilities of the JWST. The team used the integral field spectrograph for their observations, which was a crucial innovation for this discovery.
The discovery challenges existing models of black hole evolution. It suggests that supermassive black holes may become significantly larger in their early stages by rapidly consuming matter in a short time.
The team behind the discovery plans to conduct follow-up studies using the JWST to further explore the feeding mechanisms of black holes and expand on their understanding of these early universe phenomena.