Astronomers have discovered a massive black hole in the early universe that is “dormant” after overeating and lying dormant for extended periods. The discovery was made using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and has significant implications for our understanding of how black holes form and grow.
The black hole, located 800 million years after the Big Bang, is estimated to be 400 million times more massive than our sun, making it one of the largest ever discovered. However, its growth rate is surprisingly low, with only about 100 times less than its theoretical maximum limit.
This finding challenges existing models of how black holes develop and suggests that they may go through short periods of ultra-fast growth followed by long periods of dormancy. The researchers believe that this scenario could explain why some massive black holes are found in the early universe.
The discovery was made possible due to the low luminosity of dormant black holes, making them more difficult to detect. However, the team’s findings indicate that many black holes may be in a dormant state, which has significant implications for our understanding of the universe.
The study, published in Nature, suggests that black holes may “eat for 5-10 million years and sleep for about 100 million years.” This finding is surprising but exciting, as it opens up new avenues for research into these mysterious objects.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2024-12-dormant-massive-black-hole-early.html