Astronomers have discovered something remarkable – black holes hiding inside giant stars that shine like luminous dots. If confirmed, this could change our understanding of the universe’s earliest monsters.
In 2022, the James Webb Telescope spotted these mysterious “little red dots” for the first time. Now, one of them, nicknamed The Cliff, is rewriting textbooks on galaxy formation. This object glows like a star but is powered by a hungry black hole wrapped in gas.
Unlike galaxies or active black holes, this object shines because it’s devouring material. Researchers are scrambling to find new physics explanations for its sudden brightness spike. The object’s spectrum defies every known explanation, leaving them puzzled.
The eerie glow aligns with the Balmer break phenomenon, pointing to an exotic, never-before-seen class of objects. If these black hole stars exist, they may explain how supermassive black holes appeared so early in cosmic history.
For decades, astrophysicists have struggled to understand how black holes grew rapidly after the Big Bang. This hybrid object could be the missing piece in that mystery. The team plans to target even brighter red dots with Webb, hoping to prove or disprove the existence of these mysterious objects.
Source: https://www.businesstoday.in/visualstories/news/james-webb-may-have-spotted-the-universes-first-black-hole-stars-262700-01-10-2025