Potential “black Hole Stars” Discovered,Challenging Early Universe Models
A newly discovered object,nicknamed “The Cliff,” is exhibiting spectral characteristics that suggest it may be a previously theorized “black hole star” – a supermassive black hole surrounded by a dense envelope of hydrogen gas,mimicking the appearance of a distant galaxy. The finding, reported in Astronomy & Astrophysics, could offer a solution to the puzzle of Low-Redshift Dwarfs (LRDs), enigmatic objects that don’t fit neatly into current cosmological models.
For years, astronomers have struggled to explain LRDs – objects observed in the early universe that appear surprisingly mature for their age. One key feature used to identify galaxies is the “Balmer break,” a sharp change in the spectrum of light caused by hydrogen gas absorbing certain wavelengths. Galaxies exhibit this break due to the collective light of their many stars.
Though, The Cliff’s spectrum presented a puzzle. “The spectrum of The Cliff looked closer to what we would expect to see in a single star rather than an entire galaxy,” explained researcher HdA de Graaff. This led a team of scientists to explore an option description: a single, incredibly unusual object.
Their model, dubbed a “black hole star,” proposes a structure similar to a star enveloped in scorching plasma, but with a supermassive black hole at its core instead of a fusing nucleus. This black hole actively feeds from an accretion disk,heating the surrounding hydrogen gas and producing a spectrum that mimics that of a star.
The team’s simulations of this black hole star model remarkably replicated the observed spectrum of The Cliff. “The Cliff presents the strongest direct evidence to date that the Balmer break and rest optical to near-infrared spectral energy distribution in LRDs can be dominated by emission from an active galactic nucleus, rather than evolved stellar populations,” the researchers wrote in their published paper.
While the theory remains unconfirmed, the discovery offers a plausible explanation for LRDs without requiring a revision of our understanding of the universe’s evolution. further research is needed to understand how these potential black hole stars form,evolve,and what other spectral signatures they might possess.
The researchers emphasize the importance of The Cliff’s relatively low redshift – a measure of distance – which allows for detailed observation using the James webb Space Telescope (JWST). “Because of its comparatively modest redshift, the high-quality spectrophotometric coverage of JWST extends over a wide rest-frame wavelength range. These stringent constraints make The Cliff the ideal benchmark for future active galactic nucleus and black hole star models,” they stated.
