NASA scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery, revealing the existence of the oldest and one of the largest black holes in the universe.
The announcement, made by the agency on Monday, highlights the use of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the James Webb Telescope in uncovering this remarkable find.
According to a press release from NASA, the scientists were able to identify the "telltale signature of a growing black hole just 470 million years after the big bang." This discovery, detailed in a publication in the journal Nature Astronomy, provides compelling evidence of a supermassive black hole system.
Study co-author Priyamvada Natarajan expressed astonishment at the early appearance of such a massive entity in the universe. In an interview with the Associated Press (AP), Natarajan stated, "It's just really early on in the universe to be such a behemoth. It's astounding how this thing actually is sitting in place already with its galaxy so early on in the universe."
The colossal black hole resides in the UHZ1 galaxy, an astonishing 3.5 billion light-years away from Earth. While the research has not yet answered many questions about the formation of black holes, it has sparked further curiosity within NASA about the very possibility of their existence.
"We think that this is the first detection of an 'Outsize Black Hole' and the best evidence yet obtained that some black holes form from massive clouds of gas," Natarajan explained in the press release. "For the first time, we are seeing a brief stage where a supermassive black hole weighs about as much as the stars in its galaxy, before it falls behind."
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