He James Webb Space Telescope He is already a professional when it comes to detecting distant objects. Now, it is the turn of the oldest engro hole that has ever been observed. It is estimated that it was formed 400 million years after the Big Bang, which dates back 13,000 million years. That makes it unique enough. But it has more peculiarities.
First of all, its size is striking, which challenges existing knowledge about black holes. But, secondly, the way in which it is engulfing his galaxy.
It is well known that the supermassive black holes They usually form in the center of galaxies, on whose matter they feed. But the peculiarity of the oldest black hole ever recorded is that it feeds on its own at a dizzying rate, due to which both may soon end up disappearing. The galaxy for being engulfed by the black hole and it for not having anything else to continue feeding on.
The oldest black hole ever detected
Black holes cannot be seen. If astronomers are able to detect them it is thanks to their accretion disk. These are disks of gas and dust that swirl around the black hole, which in turn pulls them inward. We already know that they are so massive that they attract everything towards them. Nothing beyond a specific distance, known as the event horizon, can escape them. Not even the light.
Therefore, this disk is generated material swirled around. The gas that composes it heats up so much that it emits a large amount of energy, which can be detected by telescope instruments.
That is what made it possible to verify that in the center of the galaxy GN-z11 there was a big black hole. This was especially energetic, so much so that, according to the measurements made, its mass must be a few million times that of our Sun. The James Webb telescope, specialized in capturing very distant objects, was able to locate it and calculate its age, which places it as the oldest black hole that has ever been detected. But there is something else that draws attention.
Too big to be true
Although there are still some mysteries about the origin of black holes, it is believed that they are formed by the collapse of ancient stars, which reach the supernova explosion phase. If the star that exploded was very massive, a black hole is formed, which little by little becomes absorbing material around him, getting bigger.
Initially it is a dense and small core. Or that’s what was believed. However, even though it is so old, this black hole seems Too big. There wouldn’t have been enough time for it to grow that much. Does this mean that black holes can be born large? That would go against everything that is known about them so far.
The oldest black hole is also a glutton
Measurements carried out around this black hole have shown that, in reality, it was not born big. Its peculiarity is that it attracts matter to it with a force much greater than that of other younger black holes.
That could indicate some peculiarity of the formation of black holes oldest that still eludes scientists. What is clear is that it is engulfing at such a speed that it has grown dizzyingly in a relatively short time. And the biggest loser of all this is your galaxy.
When black holes draw gas towards them too quickly, a wind is generated that, according to the authors of the study that has just been published in Nature, could be hindering the development of the galaxy. It is not capable of growing and its little matter is being fed to the black hole. Therefore, it would not be strange if it ends up disappearing, also leading the oldest black hole ever seen to its own disappearance.
There is still a lot of time left for this to happen, so scientists can calmly observe all the data that makes this object so special. And who knows? With James Webb on their side, they may soon be able to find many more black holes like this one.