A newly identified supermassive black hole resides in the center of the “Little Red Dot” galaxy, known as Capers-LRD-Z9, existing merely 500 million years after the Big Bang.
Artistic impressions of Capers-Lrd-Z9. Image credit: Erik Zumalt, University of Texas, Austin.
“Finding a black hole like this pushes the limits of what we can currently detect,” remarked Dr. Anthony Taylor, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Texas at Austin.
“We’re truly expanding the boundaries of technological capability today.”
“While astronomers have identified more distant candidates, clear spectroscopic signatures for black holes have yet to be found,” noted Dr. Stephen Finkelstein from the University of Texas at Austin.
The astronomers conducted their research using data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, as part of the CAPERS (Candels-Area Prism Epoch of Reionization Survey) program.
Initially regarded as a mere speck in the program images, Capers-LRD-Z9 is now recognized as part of a newly classified category of galaxies called Little Red Dots.
“The find of the Little Red Dot was a surprising revelation from initial Webb data. It did not resemble the galaxies captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope,” Dr. Finkelstein explained.
“We are currently working to understand what they are and how they formed.”
Capers-Lrd-Z9 contributes to the growing evidence that the ultra-large black hole plays a critical role in the unusual luminosity of small red dots.
Typically, such brightness signifies a galaxy teeming with stars. However, in the absence of substantial stellar mass, these small red dots cease to exist.
These galaxies may also help clarify what causes the distinct red hue observed in small red dots, which is altered to a red wavelength as it passes through surrounding gas clouds encircling the black hole.
“I’ve observed these clouds in other galaxies,” Dr. Taylor stated.
“When I compared this object to others, it was unmistakable.”
Capers-LRD-Z9 merits attention due to the immense size of its black hole.
It’s estimated to be as massive as 300 million solar masses, equating to half the total star mass within the galaxy. This size is notably large, even among supermassive black holes.
By discovering such massive black holes early on, astronomers provide a unique opportunity to investigate the growth and evolution of these entities.
Black holes existing in later epochs had diverse opportunities for growth over their lifetimes, yet this was not the case during the initial hundreds of millions of years.
“This reinforces the increasing evidence that early black holes grew much faster than previously believed,” Dr. Finkelstein mentioned.
“Or they might have originated much larger than our models suggested.”
These findings are detailed in a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal.
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Anthony J. Taylor et al. 2025. Capers-Lrd-Z9: Gasensing Little Dot hosts Broadline’s active galactic nucleus at z = 9.288. apjl 989, L7; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ade789
Source: www.sci.news
