A team of astronomers from the U.S. National Science Foundation NOIRLab has identified a supermassive black hole named LID-568, located at the center of a galaxy formed only 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang. This black hole is consuming matter at a staggering rate, exceeding the Eddington limit by 40 times, a phenomenon that could provide insights into the rapid growth of supermassive black holes in the early universe.
Discovered using data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, LID-568 stands out due to its intense X-ray emissions, which are characteristic of a sample of galaxies that are bright in the X-ray spectrum but invisible in optical and near-infrared wavelengths. The unique infrared sensitivity of JWST allowed for the detection of these faint emissions.
The research team, led by astronomer Hyewon Suh, employed the integral field spectrograph on JWST's NIRSpec instrument to analyze LID-568. This innovative approach was essential due to the difficulty in pinpointing the black hole's location based solely on X-ray data. The observations revealed powerful gas outflows surrounding the black hole, suggesting significant mass growth during a single rapid accretion event.
Dr. Emanuele Farina, a co-author of the study, emphasized that the detection of LID-568 would not have been possible without JWST's capabilities. The findings indicate that this black hole's extreme feeding behavior may explain the presence of massive black holes in the early universe.
Current theories propose that supermassive black holes form from smaller 'seeds' created by the death of the universe's first stars or the collapse of gas clouds. The discovery of LID-568 supports the idea that rapid mass growth can occur during a single feeding episode, regardless of the black hole's origin.
The team's future plans include follow-up observations with JWST to further explore the mechanisms behind this extraordinary accretion process and its implications for understanding black hole formation in the early cosmos.