Black hole Revelation: Distant Galaxy Challenges Cosmic Growth Models
New research suggests supermassive black holes may be significantly smaller than previously believed, perhaps rewriting our understanding of how galaxies – and the universe itself - evolve.
A groundbreaking study of a galaxy located over 12 billion light-years away has revealed a surprising finding: the supermassive black hole at its core has a mass of approximately one billion suns. This is roughly one-tenth the size astronomers typically expect for such a luminous quasar - the incredibly shining, active core of a distant galaxy.
The discovery, announced Thursday by a team from the university of Southampton in collaboration with European researchers, challenges existing models of cosmic growth and black hole formation. Researchers utilized cutting-edge equipment at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile to observe the distant galaxy.
“Despite the quasar’s extreme luminosity, the black hole at its heart was found to have a mass equal to ‘only’ around one billion suns,” explained Associate Professor Christian Wolf in an interview with ANU Reporter.
Further complicating the picture, the black hole wasn’t behaving as predicted. Instead of spinning rapidly, it appeared to be actively ejecting gas, propelled outwards by the intense light emanating from the quasar. This unusual behavior adds another layer of complexity to understanding these cosmic behemoths.
The galaxy and its unusual black hole were initially identified in 2024 by Wolf and colleagues at the Australian National University (ANU).This latest research builds upon that initial discovery,offering a new perspective on the early universe and the role black holes play in galactic evolution.
This finding could necessitate a re-evaluation of current theories regarding the formation and growth of supermassive black holes, and how they interact with their host galaxies in the early universe. Further research will be crucial to determine if this galaxy is an anomaly, or if it represents a broader, previously unkown population of smaller-than-expected supermassive black holes.
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