Hungriest black hole discovered: monstrous void swallows matter at 40 times the theoretical limit

A newly discovered black hole has been called the hungriest black hole ever discovered. Scientists at the Gemini International Observatory and NSF NOIRLab say the void, called LID-568, is swallowing matter at a rate 40 times the theoretical limit.

Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the researchers were able to observe LID-568 when it was only 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang. Even at this early stage of the Universe's formation, scientists saw that the black hole was producing much more X-rays than is possible for its size, MailOnline writes.

"This black hole is having a feast," said study co-author Dr. Julia Scharwechter.

Its huge appetite may help explain how some tiny black holes become supermassive so quickly.

"This extreme case shows that a mechanism of rapid feeding above the Eddington limit is one possible explanation for why we see these very heavy black holes so early in the Universe," the researcher comments.

Scientists now plan to continue to observe with JWST to further explore possible mechanisms. They believe that every black hole has a maximum rate at which it should be able to absorb new material. This is called the "Eddington limit", named after the English astrophysicist Sir Arthur Eddington - the point at which the internal gravitational force of the black hole is balanced by the external force created by the heat of the falling matter.

Astrophysicists have suggested that if a black hole exceeds this limit, it will become so bright that the surrounding gases will be blown out.

When scientists looked at a sample of galactic nuclei located very far from Earth, they found that one glowed with unusual intensity. Despite the fact that the ring of material around LID-568 was invisible in the near-infrared, it emitted 4000 percent more energy than its Eddington limit allowed. According to the researchers, this is possible due to a number of powerful gas flows around the center of the black hole.

Because LID-568 is so faint, the researchers decided to use an instrument called an "integral field spectrograph" rather than the usual JWST methods.

Although this technique is not as focused, it allows scientists to measure the spectrum for every pixel in the field of view of the instrument, rather than being limited to a narrow slice. Thanks to this solution, the researchers were able to get a complete overview of the region around the black hole, detecting unusual gas leaks coming out of the black hole at a speed of 600-500 kilometers per second.

According to the scientists, these outflows allow the black hole to exceed the Eddington limit, acting as an exhaust valve for the excess energy created during the "massive feast". It also suggests that the black hole could have gained a significant portion of its mass in a single episode of extremely rapid consumption.

"This accidental result has added a new dimension to our understanding of the system and opened up exciting avenues for research," said lead author Dr. Hewon Suh.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!