Scientists Discover the Oldest , Black Hole , Ever Observed.
In 2016, the Hubble Space Telescope spotted
GN-z11, the most distant galaxy ever identified,
having formed 13.4 billion years ago,
just 400 million years after the Big Bang.
However, GN-z11 presented astronomers with a puzzling
problem, as the galaxy appeared to be much brighter,
or densely packed with stars, than it should have been. .
NPR reports that a team of scientists, using the powerful James Webb Space Telescope, believe they may
have solved the mystery of the ancient galaxy. .
NPR reports that a team of scientists, using the powerful James Webb Space Telescope, believe they may
have solved the mystery of the ancient galaxy. .
Roberto Maiolino, an astrophysicist at the University
of Cambridge, and his colleagues believe that
a massive black hole is responsible for the anomaly. .
While the black hole itself, which is
about 1.6 million times the mass of
our Sun, is unable to emit any light.
Maiolino and his team suggest that all the material
being drawn into the black hole may be hot and bright
enough to create GN-z11's intense radiance.
This black hole is essentially
eating the [equivalent of] an entire
Sun every five years. It's actually
much higher than we thought could
be feasible for these black holes, Roberto Maiolino, astrophysicist at
the University of Cambridge, via NPR.
According to Maiolino, the existence of this ancient
black hole calls into question the origin of black holes
and the processes by which they feed and grow.
The team believes that supermassive black holes may
have been generated by the collapse of huge clouds
of primordial gas in the aftermath of the Big Bang.
Another alternative explanation could be that
a sea of smaller black holes merged and
consumed a vast amount of matter that
spurred unexpectedly quick growth. .
The team also believes that this black hole has
stunted the growth of GN-z11, impeding star
formation and ultimately strangling the galaxy.