Scientists have discovered a huge black hole that takes a nap after eating too much
There’s nothing like a cheeky nap after a big, delicious meal.
And it turns out we’re not the only ones: a huge black hole has been spotted taking a nap after eating too much.
An international team of astronomers led by the University of Cambridge has used the James Webb Space Telescope to detect a black hole in the early universe, just 800 million years after the Big Bang.
The black hole is enormous – 400 million times the mass of our Sun – making it one of the most massive black holes Webb has discovered at this point in the universe’s development.
It is so massive that it makes up about 40 percent of the total mass of its host galaxy.
By comparison, most black holes in the local universe represent roughly 0.1 percent of the mass of their host galaxy.
However, despite its gigantic size, this black hole eats the gas it needs to grow at a very slow rate – about 100 times below the theoretical maximum limit – making it essentially inactive.
And this discovery has challenged existing models of how black holes evolve.
An international team of astronomers led by the University of Cambridge has used the James Webb Space Telescope to detect a black hole in the early universe, just 800 million years after the Big Bang
There’s nothing like a cheeky nap after a big, delicious meal. And it turns out we’re not the only ones: a massive black hole has been spotted taking a nap after overeating (stock image)
The researchers say the most likely scenario is that black holes experience short periods of ultra-fast growth, followed by long periods of quiescence.
Professor Roberto Maiolino, one of the authors of the study, said: ‘It is possible that black holes are ‘born large’, which could explain why Webb spotted huge black holes in the early universe.
‘But another possibility is that they go through periods of hyperactivity, followed by long periods of rest.
“It sounds counterintuitive to explain a dormant black hole with periods of hyperactivity, but these short bursts allow it to grow rapidly while snoozing most of the time.”
Further analysis suggests that black holes like this likely eat for five to ten million years and sleep for about 100 million years.
When black holes are “napping,” they are much less luminous, making them harder to spot, even with highly sensitive telescopes like Webb.
Black holes cannot be observed directly.
Instead, they are detected by the telltale glow of a swirling accretion disk, which forms near the edges of the black hole.
The gas in the accretion disk becomes extremely hot and begins to glow and radiate energy in the ultraviolet range.
The team said this new discovery could be the tip of a much larger iceberg, if black holes in the early universe spent most of their time in a dormant state.
“It’s likely that the vast majority of black holes out there are in a dormant state. I’m surprised we found this one, but I’m excited to think we can find so many more,” added Professor Maiolino.
Their findings were published in the journal Nature.