Oldest ever black hole millions discovered - dating back to dawn of the universe

21 January 2024 , 08:10

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The astronomy team was led by University of Cambridge researchers (Image: Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)

The oldest ever black hole has been discovered, and astronomers claimed it dates back to the very dawn of the universe.

Researchers spotted the 13-billion-year-old phenomenon from 400 million years after the Big Bang. They claimed it appeared to be ‘eating’ its host galaxy to death. The black hole is a few million times the mass of our Sun. The discovery challenged scientists’ assumptions on how they form and grow because they should not be that size so early on in the universe.

If it grew in an expected way, the newly detected black hole would take about a billion years to grow to its current size. But the universe was not yet a billion years old when it was detected. Astronomers had presumed 'supermassive' black holes grew to their current scale over billions of years, but the size of the new find suggests they might be ‘born big’ or can eat matter at a rate that’s five times higher than had been thought possible.

The team, led by the University of Cambridge researchers, used the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to make their impressive finding, which is published in the journal Nature. Professor Roberto Maiolino said: “It’s very early in the universe to see a black hole this massive, so we’ve got to consider other ways they might form. Very early galaxies were extremely gas-rich, so they would have been like a buffet for black holes."

A black hole is an object so compact that nothing can escape its gravitational pull (Getty Images)

He added: “It’s a new era: the giant leap in sensitivity, especially in the infrared, is like upgrading from Galileo’s telescope to a modern telescope overnight. Before Webb came online, I thought maybe the universe isn’t so interesting when you go beyond what we could see with the Hubble Space Telescope. But that hasn’t been the case at all: the universe has been quite generous in what it’s showing us, and this is just the beginning.”

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The team of astronomers detected the phenomenon after it could be seen glowing, radiating energy in the ultraviolet range. Similar to all other black holes, it is devouring material from its host galaxy to fuel its growth, but at much faster rates.

The host galaxy, called GN-z11, is about one hundred times smaller than the Milky Way and this black hole feasting on it is likely harming its development. Astronomy teams hope that with further research and telescope observations, they will be able to untangle how black holes might form.

The Mirror reported in November how the most ancient black hole yet observed has been revealed by NASA scientists. The research confirmed what - until now - were just theories that supermassive black holes existed close to the Big Bang.

Graeme Murray