The infinite galaxy, the result of two spiral galaxies colliding, is composed of two rings of stars (seen as ovals at the top right and at the bottom left). The two nuclei of the spiral galaxies are seen represented in yellow inside the rings. The bright hydrogen that has been stripped of its electrons between the two galaxies appears green. Astronomes have detected a black hole from a million solar solar that seems to be incorporated in this large ionized gas band. They suggest that the black hole may have formed through a process known as a direct collapse. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STSCI, P. Van Dokkum (Yale University)
Takeaway Keyway:
- The James Webb spatial telescope found a “figure-eight” galaxy with a possible newly born supermical black hole (SmbH).
- This SmbH may have made up quickly from a cloud cloud in collision, unlike the traditional slow growth model.
- The pressure and turbulence of the collision prevented the formation of stars, allowing the direct collapse of SmbH.
- This discovery could change our understanding of how some of the greatest black holes are formed.
The researchers Pieter Van Dokkum of the University of Yale and Gabriel Brammer of the University of Copenhagen have discovered a significant cosmic system in the archive data of the James Webb Space Telescope Cosmos-Web Survey: a pair of collision discs that are hit which are hit whose overlapping rings create a bright Eight figure, duplicated the “infinite galaxy”.
But it is not only the form that fascinates astronomers. Embodied between the two galactic nuclei is a vast cloud of ionized gas hydrogen, stripped of its electrons by a source that is believed to be a supermassive black hole (SmbH) estimated at about a million times the mass of the sun. If confirmed, this could represent one of the first glimpses of a SmbH in formation, offering new intuitions that challenge conventional theories on where and how these cosmic giants arise.
“Finding a black hole that is not found in the nucleus of a massive galaxy is in itself unusual,” says Van Dokkum, the main author on the article and the main investigator for follow-up observations. “But what is even more unusual is the story of how it could have arrived there. It probably did not arrive there, but instead it has formed there. And quite recently. In other words, we think we are witnessing the birth of an SmbH – Something that has never been seen before.”
How do SmbHS form?
Smbhs’ formation remains one of the greatest mysteries in astrophysics. The traditional “light seeds” model suggests that black holes begin as small and dense remains of huge stars, gradually growing in SMBHS over time through mergers with other black holes. But this slow growth cannot completely explain how some SmbH managed to enlarge so quickly in the initial universe.
An alternative idea, the “heavy seed” or the direct collapse model, proposes that some SmbHs have formed much faster, when huge clouds of gas collapsed directly in black holes, jumping the usual passage of stars.
Because this happens, the gas must remain warm and stable so that it does not fragme stars. This typically requires two special ingredients: intense ultraviolet radiation (UV), which breaks cooling molecules such as molecular hydrogren and low metallicity, since the gas rich in metals cools efficiently and tends to form stars. These conditions are believed to have mainly existed in the initial universe, making it possible to form the rapid formation of black holes.
The collision may have formed SmbH through turbulence and pressure
The Galassia Infinity, however, seems to offer a new turning point. The recent collision between two galaxies enriched with metal gas rich in gas has produced shock that compressed the gas between their nuclei, creating turbulent and high pressure conditions that suppress the formation of stars from a different mechanism.
While the authors write, “in this training channel, turbulence and thermal pressure, rather than the absence of metals, prevent the fragmentation and formation of stars”.
The gas is currently distributed in a region over 30,000 light years wide. According to the authors, “the ionized gas between the nuclei is shocked and compressed due to the recent collision, and it may be that the black hole has formed through the gravitational collapse on the flight of a cloud or filament within this gas”.
This collapse led by shock explains the unusual position and speed of the black hole: it is exactly in the middle of the distribution of the surrounding gas speed, suggesting that it was formed there rather than wandering or expelled from one of the two nuclei.
Possible Blackhole system
In addition, the two galactic nuclei themselves are huge enough to host their SmbHs. “It would be interesting to look for AGN activities in the two nuclei with sensitive radio or spectroscopic observations, as this could confirm that there are three black holes in the system”, note the authors.
While the data still do not definitively demonstrate the formation of the Black-Collasso hole, strengthen the case to attend a newborn formed through an previously unexplored channel linked to the fusions of the galaxy. This discovery opens a new window on how some of the most enormous black holes in the universe can form quickly, even in complex and metal -rich environments.
While Van Dokkum summarizes, “we cannot definitively say that we found a black hole direct collapse. But we can say that these new data strengthen the case that we are seeing a newborn black hole, eliminating some of the competition explanations”.
