This giant “LID-568’s Black Hole” is so absorbent that it is swallowing all incoming material at an unprecedented rate, many times surpassing its typical absorptivity. There is no doubt that black holes are one of the most mysterious objects in our universe. It is these black holes in front of which even our modern physics seems to fail. Recently, scientists have found a black hole in the very beginning of the universe, which is completely challenging our understanding of black holes.
This cosmic monster black hole is located in a galaxy called LID-568, and the above-mentioned phenomenon was observed merely 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang, that is at the early universe stage itself. This black hole has been feeding matter at more than 40 times the Eddington limit, a theoretical maximum. Such a discovery could unlock the key to understanding how such colossal black holes form so rapidly in the early Universe.
This black hole has an unprecedented appetite – according to astronomer Julia Scharwächter at Gemini Observatory and NSF’s NOIRLab, she compared it to a ‘cosmic feast’. For her, this extreme above-Eddington feeding process might give some hints concerning how these supermassive monsters had grown so enormous in just such a short period after the Big Bang. The findings have been documented within Nature Astronomy.
The Eddington Limit and Beyond
When a black hole sucks in large quantities of matter, it does not fall straight into the black hole but instead develops a rotating disk around it. Here, friction and gravity heat the matter to scorching temperatures due to extreme friction and gravity forces. However, light has some pressure as well.
Although a single photon has little effect, the intense radiation from an active black hole’s disk creates a significant outward force that balances gravity’s inward pull. This point of balance is called the Eddington limit. But some black holes can go over this limit, a process known as “super-Eddington accretion.”
Super-Eddington Accretion in Astronomy
In astronomy, “super-Eddington accretion” is an intriguing and critical process, highly relevant to celestial bodies that draw in large amounts of matter. Through this process, massive astronomical entities—like supermassive black holes—absorb matter at a rate exceeding the ordinary Eddington limit. Crossing this threshold is what we term super-Eddington accretion.
The Eddington limit defines a balance where the gravitational pull of a celestial body and the outward push of radiation pressure are equal. When a celestial object consumes matter beyond this rate, the process releases an unusual amount of energy and light. During super-Eddington accretion, the flow of radiation becomes so intense that it significantly raises thermal and radiation pressure, making this phenomenon more complex and powerful.
This unique process of super-Eddington accretion can be observed in various astronomical events, such as active galactic nuclei, transient stars, and the formation of extraordinarily large stellar black holes. Astronomers believe that supermassive black holes in the early Universe may have reached their vast sizes through periods of super-Eddington accretion.
Sir Arthur Eddington
The Eddington limit, a concept pivotal to understanding energy balance in massive celestial bodies, was originally proposed by British astrophysicist Sir Arthur Eddington in the early 20th century. Through his pioneering work, Eddington elucidated the theoretical threshold where a star’s outward radiation pressure equals the inward pull of its gravitational force, creating a delicate equilibrium. This insight into stellar mechanics not only set the foundation for the study of star formation and black hole accretion but also shed light on the intricate dance of forces governing the behavior of luminous bodies in space.
The Discovery and Study of LID-568’s Black Hole
Astronomer Hyewon Suh and team, from Gemini Observatory and NSF’s NOIRLab used the JWST to monitor a number of galaxies that appear bright in X-rays, but otherwise dim in other wavelength emissions. As they made the galaxy LID-568 their target, they experienced difficulties determining the distance in initial attempts, but subsequently confirmed the distance using NIRSpec from the JWST.
LID-568 is a remarkably distant object, and even though it is faint, its distance suggests that it should be intrinsically bright. Further analysis showed intense outflows from the supermassive black hole, which is a sign of accretion because some of the material is expelled into space. The analysis also showed that this black hole, though only about 7.2 million times the mass of the Sun and thus a relatively small supermassive black hole, was emitting light far above its mass, an indication that the accretion rate was 40 times greater than the Eddington limit.
Given the rapid nature of super-Eddington accretion, this phase is anticipated to be fleeting, which implies that Suh and her team were remarkably fortunate to observe it in real-time. It’s expected that LID-568 will quickly become a favored observational target among black hole researchers, offering an extraordinary opportunity to examine super-Eddington phenomena closely.
A New Dimension in Cosmic Understanding
This discovery can revolutionize the understanding of black hole science. According to this hypothesis, some supermassive black holes in the universe may have formed directly under gravity from collapsed massive stars or large gas clouds. Such super-Eddington accretion might supply another part of the cosmic structure to be explained by early cosmology.
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Hyewon Suh states, “Discovery of a super-Eddington accreting black hole implies that a rapid feeding event could have made the black hole significantly massive at least as easily from an initially small seed as an initially large one.”
This new finding will open up the horizon for black hole study to better understand the beginning stages of the Universe. Recently scientists have discovered a black hole whose jets are reaching the cosmic void in the universe. And these jets are so long that 140 Milky Way galaxies can fit from one end to the other. You can read this post for more information about this black hole. And if you have some thoughts, then please tell us by commenting below. Thank you.
Some FAQ’s
Q.1 What is the Eddington mass limit?
Ans. The Eddington mass limit defines the utmost weight a star can sustain before the outward pressure from the light it emits equals the inward pull of its gravity. When a star grows massive enough, the energy from its radiation pushes against gravity, preventing the star from gaining more mass.
This balance, known as the Eddington limit, restricts the star’s growth. If the star surpasses this limit, it risks shedding mass or even destabilizing.
Q.2 Does TON 618 still exist?
Ans. TON 618, a colossal black hole located in a distant galaxy, indeed still exists. Its immense gravitational pull devours surrounding gas and dust, emitting intense light visible across vast cosmic distances. This behemoth black hole is classified as a quasar, meaning it radiates immense energy due to the matter it consumes.
TON 618 is approximately 10.4 billion light-years away from Earth. This means the light we observe from TON 618 today started its journey toward us over 10 billion years ago, making it one of the most distant and powerful quasars known in the universe. Its immense brightness allows us to see it from such an astonishing distance, despite the vast cosmic space between us.
Q.3 LID-568’s Galaxy Black Hole
Ans. The black hole in LID-568 is located over 12 billion light-years away. This means that the light we see from it today left the black hole 12+ billion years ago.
