James-Webb: a “abnormal” supermassive black hole shakes up cosmology

The James-Webb Space Observatory still spotted something astronomically unprecedented: halfway through the centers of two fusion galaxies is a supermassive black hole. Do astrophysicists finally hold the answer to the enigma of the formation of these more massive monsters than millions of suns?

This unusual cosmic configuration was discovered a little by chance by scrutinizing the data from the Cosmos-Webb statement, which we had mentioned recently. Infinity Galaxy has been named, because by merging, its two members recall the symbol of infinity, an 8 horizontally.

Three supermassive black holes, including a strange place

Two galaxies have therefore collised head -on, each with a very dense central nucleus where there is a lodge, so far in accordance with the scientific consensus, a supermassive black hole. But the most extraordinary was the discovery of a third supermassive black hole in the very place of the collision.

For Pieter Van Dokkum, main author of the article, “Everything is unusual in this galaxy. Not only does it look very strange, but there is also this supermassive black hole which attracts a lot of matter. Our greatest surprise has been that it is not located inside one or the other of the two nuclei, but in the middle. How can we give meaning to that?”

It should be remembered that the formation of supermassive black holes is one of the biggest cosmological puzzles. Do they come from ancient and gigantic stars of 500 or 1000 solar masses (hypothesis of “light seeds”), or rather from giant gas clouds directly collapsed in black holes (hypothesis of “heavy seeds”)?

Is Infinity Galaxy the answer to the formation of supermassive black holes?

By analyzing the data from the NASA X -rayrack telescope, and those of the Radio Radio Radio Very Large Array, astronomers detected a very large activity around this black hole located where it did not expect, potentially born from the meeting of gas clouds present in the two molten galaxies. An incredible observation therefore accrediting the so -called heavy seed hypothesis.

Pieter van Dokkum Livre Six Impressions:“There are two other possibilities that come to mind. First of all, it could be an wandering black hole which has been ejected with a galaxy and which crosses Infinity. Otherwise, it could be a black hole in the center of a third galaxy in the same place in the sky. If it was, we would be able to see the surrounding galaxy, unless it is a low dwarf galaxy. Dwarf galaxies do not tend to house giant black holes. ”

Measure speed to confirm or deny

Astronomers already know how to understand the origin of this atypical black hole: “If it is wandering or in an unrelated galaxy, we should measure a very different speed from that of the gas present in the infinity galaxy. We will measure the speed of said gas and that of the black hole, then compare them. If the speeds were close, perhaps less than 50 km/s, then it will be difficult to affirm that this black hole is not formed from this gas.”

Has the JWST brought a decisive element in our understanding of the formation of supermassive black holes? We will see. Note, however, that, even in the event that it is proven that this black hole was well formed during the collision and from the gas of the arms of the galaxies, this would not necessarily exclude the hypothesis of light seeds. Supermassive black holes may have several training methods.

Want to save even more? Discover our selected promo codes for you.