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An illustration of a black hole surrounded by a cloud of dust. Fresh research indicates that peculiar ‘little red dots’ spotted by the James Webb telescope might be nascent black holes enveloped in primeval dust clouds.(Image credit: Getty Images)ShareShare by:
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Scientists may have finally ascertained the character of some of the most puzzling entities in the celestial sphere.
In a recent study, investigators explored the nature of “little red dots.” These enigmatic entities from the early cosmos exhibit attributes of both galaxies and supermassive black holes but don’t entirely align with either depiction.
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Little red dots were initially noticed via the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) not long after the spacecraft started compiling data in 2022. At first, they were considered to be condensed, star-studded galaxies. However, they manifested too prematurely in cosmic history to have generated such a plethora of stars — at least based on our prevailing comprehension of galactic evolution.
Conversely, other scientists posited that these atypical objects might be nascent supermassive black holes. Radiance discharged by stimulated hydrogen atoms encircling the dots intimates that the gas is propelling at thousands of miles each second, propelled by the gravitational attraction of the entity at the core.
“Such extraordinary velocities are a telling sign of an active galactic nucleus,” denoting a voracious supermassive black hole at a galaxy’s center that is drawing in substance, Rodrigo Nemmen, a space scientist at the University of São Paulo in Brazil, articulated in a corresponding piece issued in the journal Nature.
However, in contrast to supermassive black holes, no X-rays or radio signals have been detected from little red dots. Furthermore, irrespective of whether the dots are black holes or proto-galaxies, they seem to possess excessive mass for their alleged formation period in the early universe.
Black hole metamorphosis
A combined depiction of assorted “little red dots” detected by JWST during its exploration of the distant cosmos.
Within the latest study, the analysts scrutinized the light released from these objects to more adequately grasp their essence. The scientists examined spectra from 30 little red dots, each amassed by JWST’s infrared apparatus.
The light stemming from the little red dots corresponds nearly identically to the luminosity that the group anticipated would emanate from a supermassive black hole encompassed by a concentrated gas cloud. This gaseous encasement could have contained X-ray and radio waves from the nascent black holes, averting their detection by JWST.
Upon the team’s recalculation of the little red dots’ masses predicated on the revised interpretation, they determined that the dots possessed around 100 times diminished mass relative to former estimations. In conjunction, this evidence proposes that little red dots embody expanding supermassive black holes that are aggregating the ambient gas.
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“These constitute the black holes possessing the minimal mass at high redshift, according to our current insights, implying an assortment of juvenile [supermassive black holes],” the researchers documented in the study. (Redshift portrays how light stretches toward the more scarlet segment of the electromagnetic spectrum as it traverses the broadening universe; an augmented redshift signifies a more remote object.)
“Employing the amended mass evaluations, [little red dots] conform to typical cosmic evolution models,” Nemmen expressed. Substantiating the findings will necessitate further investigation of additional little red dots to assess whether this “cocoon” phase is prevalent, as well as to ascertain its function in the development of black holes.
Skyler WareSocial Links NavigationLive Science Contributor
Skyler Ware is a self-employed science writer, reporting on chemistry, biology, paleontology and Earth science. She participated as a 2023 AAAS Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellow at Science News. Her contributions have also been featured in Science News Explores, ZME Science and Chembites, and other publications. Skyler possesses a Ph.D. in chemistry from Caltech.
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