JWST spectrum reveals dense‑gas shrouded black hole from the universe’s first 700 million years
Astronomers have obtained a JWST NIRSpec observation of the ultra‑deep field source MoM‑BH*-1 at a spectroscopic redshift of 7.756. The spectrum displays an extreme Balmer break, broad Hβ emission with multiple peaks and simultaneous Balmer‑line absorption, indicating gas densities far exceeding 10⁹ cm⁻³. Imaging shows the object is unresolved on scales smaller than 117 pc, and tentative variability suggests an active accretion phase that may be super‑Eddington. These characteristics provide direct evidence of a compact, gas‑enshrouded black hole existing only about 660 million years after the Big Bang.
How this was covered
- Right-leaning outlets covered this 65m later
Why it matters
It offers the first direct glimpse of how massive black holes could have formed and grown in the earliest epochs of the universe.
How this story developed
- Aug 12 JWST uncovers a gas-shrouded supermassive black hole from the universe's first 700 million years
- Aug 14 JWST has now captured a spectrum of MoM‑BH*-1 showing an extreme Balmer break and signatures of ultra‑dense gas.
