A Small and Vigorous Black Hole in the Early Universe

A small and vigorous black hole in the early Universe

Several theories have been proposed to describe the formation of black hole seeds in the early Universe and to explain the emergence of very massive black holes observed in the first thousand million years after the Big Bang1–3. Models consider different seeding and accretion scenarios4–7, which require the detection and characterization of black holes in the first few hundred million years after the Big Bang to be validated. Here we present an …

Webb Could Detect if Supermassive Black Holes Formed Directly

An unfolding mystery is how early supermassive black holes got so big, so early. Their high mass is tough to explain through a ladder of mergers; instead, astronomers suggest they could have formed directly from huge clouds of gas. In a new paper, researchers propose the signals these directly-forming supermassive black holes might emit, and how they could even be detectable by James Webb before they collapse.