A Cosmic Reversal? Discovery of Ancient Black Hole challenges Big Bang Timeline
Recent observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are prompting scientists to reconsider the established timeline of the early universe, possibly requiring a rewrite of our understanding of how galaxies and supermassive black holes formed after the big Bang. The discovery centers around an object dubbed J1007_AGN, observed just 700 million years after the Big Bang.
J1007_AGN features a colossal black hole with a dark matter halo estimated at approximately 10 solar masses - equivalent to the mass of hundreds of billions of stars. This black hole exists within an surroundings typically associated with quasars, incredibly luminous galactic nuclei powered by actively accreting supermassive black holes.
The anomaly lies in the order of formation. Current cosmological models, developed over nearly 70 years, posit that galaxies form first, followed by supermassive black holes growing by consuming surrounding matter. Though, J1007_AGN presents a reversed scenario: a giant, already-formed black hole is at the center, with eight galaxies appearing to have coalesced around it. This observation leads researchers to hypothesize that black holes may have actually preceded the formation of large galactic structures.
To account for this unexpected arrangement, scientists propose that objects like J1007_AGN represent an early, obscured phase in the evolution of quasars. These early black holes woudl be actively growing, continuously absorbing material – spending nearly 100% of their time in accretion, compared to the 1% observed in typical ultraviolet-visible quasars which experience intermittent accretion phases.
This suggests that the quasars we observe today might be the final, visible stage of a much longer, hidden growth period. During the majority of their existence, these black holes could have grown in darkness, enveloped in gas and dust, before eventually becoming luminous enough to be detected.
While the team emphasizes that a single observation isn’t enough to overturn established cosmological models, they acknowledge that current frameworks are insufficient to fully explain the existence of J1007_AGN. This points to a potential incompleteness in our theoretical understanding of the universe’s early development.
The discovery raises the possibility of a previously unknown intermediate period between the Big Bang and the formation of the first galaxies. During this period, objects like J1007_AGN may have acted as embryonic gravitational centers, attracting matter that eventually formed the first galaxies. If confirmed, this would necessitate a “reversal of the cosmic hierarchy,” where galaxies didn’t create black holes, but rather formed around them.
