Extra Early Universe Black Holes

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with NASA’s Universe of Learning partners: Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Video imagery:

·       Hubble Ultra Deep Field, 2004: NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI) and the HUDF Team

·       Hubble composite image with black hole pullout: NASA, ESA, Matthew Hayes (Stockholm University), STscI

·       Hubble Ultra Deep Field zoom: NASA, G. Bacon and Z. Levay (STScI) 

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Telescopic images of planets, galaxies, and star birthing centers.

 

Title: News From the Universe.

 

September 27, 2024. Extra Early-Universe Black Holes. A snapshot of a tiny piece of the universe, revealing galaxy clusters.

 

Text: Researchers have revisited the Hubble Ultra Deep Field to see how common black holes were in the early universe, and they found more of them than expected.

 

Returning to study the same patch of sky with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope allowed astronomers to see changes in the brightness of some galaxies, a telltale sign of black holes.

 

The research contributes to the scientific mystery of how the universe's first black holes formed, and grew very massive very fast. An unfocused image reveals a supermassive black hole within a galactic structure.

 

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Text: The new results suggest that some black holes that existed in the universe's first billion years formed from the collapse of massive, pristine stars - one of several formation theories scientists are testing.

 

This Hubble study helps scientists to build a stronger understanding of how galaxies and black holes evolved together over time.

 

This news was brought to you in part by the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.