A high black-hole-to-host mass ratio in a lensed AGN in the early Universe. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38354833/)

These scientists used a powerful telescope called the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to study a very interesting object in space called Abell2744-QSO1. They found that this object is actually three images of the same thing, and it is a type of supermassive black hole that is actively growing.

By looking at the light coming from this object, the scientists were able to determine that it is a highly reddened broad emission line active galactic nucleus, which is a fancy way of saying it's a very energetic and bright area around a black hole. They also calculated that the black hole at the center of this object is very massive, about 40 million times the mass of our Sun!

This discovery is important because it suggests that this black hole is growing very quickly and has a high ratio of mass compared to its surrounding galaxy. This could help scientists understand how black holes form and evolve in the universe. It's like finding a missing puzzle piece that helps us learn more about the early stages of black holes and quasars, which are some of the brightest objects in the universe.

Furtak LJ., Labbe I., Zitrin A., Greene JE., Dayal P., Chemerynska I., Kokorev V., Miller TB., Goulding AD., de Graaff A., Bezanson R., Brammer GB., Cutler SE., Leja J., Pan R., Price SH., Wang B., Weaver JR., Whitaker KE., Atek H., Bogdan A., Charlot S., Curtis-Lake E., van Dokkum P., Endsley R., Feldmann R., Fudamoto Y., Fujimoto S., Glazebrook K., Juneau S., Marchesini D., Maseda MV., Nelson E., Oesch PA., Plat A., Setton DJ., Stark DP., Williams CC. A high black-hole-to-host mass ratio in a lensed AGN in the early Universe. Nature. 2024 Apr;628(8006):57-61. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07184-8. Epub 2024 Feb 14.