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Direct Collapse Black Holes

All articles tagged with #direct collapse black holes

JWST Uncovers Direct-Collapse Black Hole Seeds Behind the Little Red Dots
science20 days ago

JWST Uncovers Direct-Collapse Black Hole Seeds Behind the Little Red Dots

The James Webb Space Telescope’s Little Red Dots are identified as accreting direct-collapse black holes formed directly from primordial gas in the early universe. Radiation–hydrodynamic simulations show these objects reproduce Webb’s observations—weak X-ray emission, metal and high-ionization lines, lack of star-formation features, compact sizes, and redshift evolution—solving the timing problem of how supermassive black holes could appear so early and signaling JWST is witnessing black hole seed formation.

JWST traces direct-collapse seeds behind the first supermassive black holes
space28 days ago

JWST traces direct-collapse seeds behind the first supermassive black holes

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is providing evidence for direct-collapse black holes as seeds for the universe’s first supermassive black holes: pristine gas clouds could collapse directly into massive seeds (tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of solar masses), allowing SMBHs to grow to billions of solar masses within a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. The idea, proposed by Priyamvada Natarajan and colleagues, is supported by JWST observations of early SMBHs such as UHZ1 (~10 million solar masses at ~470 million years after the Big Bang) and related Infinity Galaxy findings. This helps resolve the so‑called timing problem of rapid SMBH formation and highlights the profound role of black holes in galaxy evolution and even in technologies like GPS through relativistic effects.

JWST’s Tiny Red Dots Could Be Birthplaces of Early Giant Black Holes
science29 days ago

JWST’s Tiny Red Dots Could Be Birthplaces of Early Giant Black Holes

A study posits that the JWST‑identified Little Red Dots may be nurseries where direct-collapse black holes form, providing heavy black-hole seeds that could grow into supermassive black holes in the early universe; the idea relies on pristine, element-poor gas in the young cosmos and currently awaits higher‑resolution observations and more simulations for confirmation.

JWST's Little Red Dots May Harbor Direct-Collapse Black Hole Birthplaces
space29 days ago

JWST's Little Red Dots May Harbor Direct-Collapse Black Hole Birthplaces

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have identified compact, red-hued sources called Little Red Dots that could be nurseries for direct-collapse black holes forming from pristine gas in the early universe. If confirmed, this link could explain how supermassive black holes grew so rapidly after the Big Bang; however, observational confirmation requires higher‑resolution data and spectral coverage.

JWST rewrites how the first supermassive black holes formed in the early universe
space1 month ago

JWST rewrites how the first supermassive black holes formed in the early universe

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is uncovering enormous black holes in the early universe that don’t fit traditional growth models, including a 40-million-solar-mass black hole in the galaxy UHZ1 when the cosmos was only ~470 million years old. JWST also reveals compact “little red dots” that may be black holes with no visible host galaxies, pointing to multiple formation channels—direct-collapse scenarios and possibly primordial black holes—leading many researchers to favor a blended origin for supermassive black holes. Future missions like Euclid and the Roman Space Telescope will help distinguish which pathways are most common.