JWST Spots MoM-BH*-1, a 100,000-Solar-Mass Black Hole Star Candidate
Updated
Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 20
JWST Spots MoM-BH*-1, a 100,000-Solar-Mass Black Hole Star Candidate
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 20
Summary
MoM-BH*-1 emitted its light about 660 million years after the Big Bang, making it the strongest black hole star candidate yet seen by JWST.
Spectra showed an unusually deep Balmer break, extreme redness and very low heavy-metal content, pointing to a dense hydrogen-helium gas shell rather than dust or ordinary stars.
Simulations indicated the shell is most plausibly heated by a fast-feeding black hole of up to 100,000 solar masses, with the gas cocoon masking the high-energy radiation expected from a quasar.
That could help explain the long-running "little red dots" puzzle: objects brighter than stars but dimmer than full galaxies, with nearly 1,000 studies published since 2023.
Researchers say many little red dots may be mini-galaxies with black hole stars at their cores, though they caution MoM-BH*-1 alone does not prove the class.
Could Webb's mysterious little red dots actually be cosmic trojan horses hiding million-solar-mass black holes inside?
If a black hole is devouring a giant star from the inside out, what happens when the gas envelope finally disappears?
MoM-BH*-1 and the "Black Hole Star": Solving the Mystery of Early-Universe Supermassive Black Holes
Overview
In August 2026, astronomers using JWST discovered MoM-BH*-1, an extremely bright red object that led to the proposal of a new class of cosmic source: the black hole star. This object shines with a luminosity far beyond any ordinary star, showing features like a dramatic Balmer break and energy levels similar to active black holes. Its dense gas envelope traps radiation, allowing the central black hole to grow rapidly in a short-lived phase. MoM-BH*-1, existing alone in space, serves as a prototype for understanding mysterious 'little red dots' and the early growth of supermassive black holes in the universe.