James Webb telescope discovers supermassive black hole ‘exploiting’ galaxy

The James Web Space Telescope (JWST) is once again providing scientists around the world with never-before-seen discoveries of how the universe works. A group of researchers from the University of Edinburgh used the space observatory to study GS-9209, one of the most distant galaxies ever discovered, located 25 billion light-years from Earth.

Black hole exploiting the galaxy

According to the study published in the journal Nature, GS-9209 has the distinction of being a large calm galaxy. Scientists said GS-9209 formed as many stars as the Milky Way just 800 million years after the Big Bang. However, as a result of the observations, the Edinburgh team determined that GS-9209 had stopped forming new stars. That’s because the galaxy currently hosts a combined mass of 40 billion Suns – roughly equivalent to one-tenth the estimated mass found in the Milky Way.

The supermassive black hole at the center of GS-9209, which is five times larger than expected for the number of stars in its host galaxy, is primarily responsible for the cessation of star formation. Scientists say the “huge” black hole at the center of GS-9209 is a “big surprise”. As in this scenario, supermassive black holes are thought to influence the formation of new stellar masses, as they release huge amounts of high-energy radiation during their accretion process. It is stated that the energy radiation heats the gas and pushes it out of the galaxy, and therefore, the fuel necessary for the birth of new stars in the galactic nebulae is not available.

British researchers state that the GS-9209 black hole being this large means it “must have been very active in the past.” While the black hole was virtually exploiting its galaxy, all the energy released during the accretion process must have severely disrupted the “galaxy” and prevented the gas from collapsing to form new stars. Study director Adam Carnall said in a statement: “The evidence we saw for a supermassive black hole was truly unexpected. This would never happen without JWST. It’s the kind of detail we can’t see.” said.