JWST Finds 3 Active Black Holes in Galaxy J0148-4214, 12.5 Billion Light-Years Away
Updated
Updated · Universe Today · Aug 14
JWST Finds 3 Active Black Holes in Galaxy J0148-4214, 12.5 Billion Light-Years Away
3 articles · Updated · Universe Today · Aug 14
Summary
Three actively accreting black holes have been identified in J0148-4214, the first such triplet seen within a single galaxy and a snapshot from about 1.2 billion years after the Big Bang.
JWST’s NIRSpec data isolated three broad-line regions with broad H-alpha but narrow [O III] emission—a spectral signature of active galactic nuclei rather than supernovae or star-forming regions.
Two black holes lie just 620 light-years apart near the galaxy’s center, while a third sits roughly 5,500 light-years out; their estimated masses are 80 million, 600,000 and 2 million solar masses.
Researchers estimate the central pair could merge within about 700 million years, with the outer black hole likely following later, pointing to mergers as a fast growth channel alongside accretion.
The host galaxy’s stellar mass is only about 1.3 billion suns, suggesting multiple massive black hole systems may have been common in the early universe and helped build today’s supermassive black holes.