We just weighed a 6-billion-solar-mass monster from the dawn of time
In short: While active supermassive black holes glow brightly by consuming nearby matter, dormant ones remain nearly invisible. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers successfully weighed a sleeping giant 10 billion light-years away. By tracking the movement of nearby stars, they measured a monster 6 billion times heavier than our Sun.
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have identified and weighed a dormant supermassive black hole located in the galaxy MRG-M0138. This object is situated a staggering 10 billion light-years away, meaning we are seeing it as it existed when the universe was only about 3 to 4 billion years old. The black hole is estimated to be 6 billion times the mass of our Sun. Detecting such an object is notoriously difficult because it is "dormant." Unlike active galactic nuclei (AGN), which glow intensely as they consume surrounding matter, dormant black holes are practically invisible because their light-trapping event horizons hide their activity. To overcome this, the research team led by Andrew Newman used a technique called stellar dynamics. By tracking the collective motions of stars at the heart of the galaxy, they could infer the black hole's mass based on how its gravity pulls on those visible stars.
This achievement represents a massive leap in observational astronomy. Previously, stellar dynamics had only been used to weigh dormant black holes in the local universe—such as Sagittarius A* in our own galaxy, which is only 26,000 light-years away. The previous distance record for this technique was about 700 million light-years. This new discovery is roughly 15 times further than that previous record. To achieve this, scientists combined JWST’s high-resolution instruments with gravitational lensing, a "cosmic magnifying glass" caused by a massive cluster of galaxies that makes MRG-M0138 appear about 30 times larger than it normally would.
The study, published in the journal Science, provides a new way to conduct a census of how black holes develop over time. By proving that we can weigh "sleeping giants" in the early universe, researchers can now better understand the role these massive objects play in shaping the evolution of galaxies across cosmic history.
Opens the Intellect+ feed with this card first. Swipe up for the next one.
Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: JWST Just Found a 6-Billion Solar Mass Monster Lurking in the Dark
- Also: James Webb Space Telescope weighs
- Also: James Webb telescope discovers most distant
- Also: JWST measures mass of a dormant black hole from the early universe for the first time
To cite this card, link to https://intellectplus.co.uk/app/space-jwst-just-found-a-6-billion-solar-mass-monster-lurking-in-th.
How we source, check and correct cards: Editorial standards.
General information, not professional advice. Spotted an error? Flag the card or see corrections and complaints.
Intellect Plus is a visual educational discovery platform for exploring fascinating facts and ideas. Brain Food, Not Brain Rot. What is Intellect Plus?
Related
More in Astronomy · More in Space · Latest · A–Z · All topics
