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Famous Galaxy's Black Hole Hides Violent Behavior
Confirmed
In Short: Astronomers using the Webb telescope have discovered mysterious 'little red dots' that could be supermassive black holes or giant stars with hidden black holes, challenging our understanding of these cosmic phenomena.
Astronomers have proposed that the Webb telescope is witnessing the birth of supermassive black holes inside colossal stars, as evidenced by the discovery of 'little red dots' that emit red light with long wavelengths and shine as brightly as entire galaxies.
These mysterious objects, first spotted in the telescope’s initial images, have sparked debate among scientists, with some suggesting they could be hydrogen clouds hiding black holes.
Anna de Graaff of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany suspects that many of these dots are giant stars with black holes concealed within them.
Further research, particularly in checking for 'black hole hair'—extra structures that could affect the ringdown waves produced when black holes merge—may provide new insights into the nature of these hidden cosmic entities.
Ph.D. student Ariadna Uxue Palomino Ylla from Nagoya University and her team are exploring how changes in ringdown waves could reveal the presence of such extra structures, potentially unlocking the secrets of these enigmatic black holes.
What's confirmed
- Astronomers have proposed that the Webb telescope is witnessing the birth of supermassive black holes inside colossal stars, as evidenced by the discovery of 'little red dots' that emit red light with long wavelengths and shine as brightly as entire galaxies.
- These mysterious objects, first spotted in the telescope’s initial images, have sparked debate among scientists, with some suggesting they could be hydrogen clouds hiding black holes.
- Anna de Graaff of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany suspects that many of these dots are giant stars with black holes concealed within them.
- Further research, particularly in checking for 'black hole hair'—extra structures that could affect the ringdown waves produced when black holes merge—may provide new insights into the nature of these hidden cosmic entities.
- Ph.D. student Ariadna Uxue Palomino Ylla from Nagoya University and her team are exploring how changes in ringdown waves could reveal the presence of such extra structures, potentially unlocking the secrets of these enigmatic black holes.
What's still developing
- The two teams of astronomers propose that they are looking at a new astronomical object: a topsy-turvy lump of hydrogen that shines with the light of billions of suns while hiding a black hole deep in its core.
- The wider this range, the faster the fastest hydrogen clouds are flying — and the more massive the black hole.
- As black holes, the little red dots would appear red because dust — grainy stuff much more complicated than gas — was blocking their blue light.
- They glowed blindingly bright, emitting red light with long wavelengths and shining as brilliantly as a whole galaxy.
- When two black holes merge, the resulting object rings like a struck bell, radiating gravitational waves that fade in a distinctive pattern called ringdown.
- According to general relativity, this pattern should depend only on the merged black hole’s mass and spin.
- But if a black hole carries extra structure — often called ‘hair’ — from surrounding dark matter, exotic fields, or modified gravity, the hair should leave its own fingerprint on the signal.
- “Black hole hair may represent matter surrounding the black hole, or deviations from the simplest kind of black hole predicted by general relativity,” said Nagoya University Ph.D. student Ariadna Uxue Palomino Ylla, lead author of the study.