Black hole in ancient galaxy challenges physics
A team just found a supermassive black hole in the quasar RACS J0320-35 that's growing 2.4 times faster than what physics says should be possible.
This wild discovery—made in a galaxy from about 12.8 billion years ago—could totally change how we think about black holes getting so big, so fast, right after the Big Bang.
Black hole is likely swallowing 300 to 3,000 suns' worth
Instead of slowly bulking up, this black hole is swallowing 300 to 3,000 Suns' worth of material every year.
It probably started out much smaller (less than 100 Suns) after some massive stars collapsed—not from giant gas clouds like scientists once thought.
Discovery gives us a new window into how supermassive black
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes confirmed this extreme growth with detailed X-ray, optical, and infrared data.
The powerful jets shooting out of it might even be tied to how quickly it's feeding.
All in all, this discovery gives us a new window into how supermassive black holes formed when the universe was still young.