james Webb Space Telescope sees an ancient black hole dance with colliding galaxies 2024

james Gathering observations of a black-hole-powered quasar when the universe was less than a billion years old was an “emotional rollercoaster” for researchers.

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James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have observed the dramatic “dance” between a supermassive black hole and two satellite galaxies. The observations could help scientists better understand how galaxies and supermassive black holes grew in the early universe.

This particular supermassive black hole is feeding on surrounding matter and powering a bright quasar that is so distant that JWST sees it as it was less than a billion years after the Big Bang. The quasar, designated PJ308-21, is localized to an active galactic nucleus (AGN) in a galaxy that is in the process of merging with two massive satellite galaxies.  

Not only did the team determine that the black hole has a mass equivalent to two billion suns, but they also found that both the quasar and the galaxies involved in this merger are highly evolved, a surprise considering they existed when the 13.8-year-old cosmos was just an infant. 

The merger of these three galaxies is likely to deliver to the supermassive black hole vast amounts of gas and dust, which will facilitate its growth and allow it to keep powering PJ308-21.

Related: James Webb Space Telescope finds ‘extremely red’ supermassive black hole growing in the early universe

the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have observed a dramatic “dance” between a supermassive black hole and two satellite galaxies. These observations could help scientists understand how galaxies and massive black holes grew in the early universe.

This particular supermassive black hole is eating up the surrounding matter and powering a bright quasar so far away that JWST sees it as it was less than a billion years after the Big Bang. The quasar, designated PJ308-21, is localized to an active galactic nucleus (AGN) in a galaxy that is in the process of merging with two large satellite galaxies.