Webb Discovers Black Hole Predates Galaxy

Scientists using United States — NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have made a groundbreaking discovery, challenging the long-held theory that galaxies form before supermassive black holes. Through detailed observations of Abell 2744-Quasar (Quasar), a 'Little Red Dot' existing just 700 million years after the Big Bang, researchers directly measured a black hole's mass at approximately 50 million solar masses. This black hole accounts for at least two-thirds of Quasar's total mass, a proportion thousands of times greater than in nearby galaxies. The gas surrounding the black hole is almost entirely hydrogen and helium, indicating very little stellar evolution. This evidence suggests that some supermassive black holes were enormous from the beginning, possibly predating their host galaxies, and formed without a stellar collapse phase. This finding, published in Nature and Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, represents a 'paradigm shift' in understanding black hole formation and growth, with key contributions from researchers at University of Cambridge and University of Florence.