Black hole star? Solar-system-size 'dot' from the early universe is our best evidence yet of a brand-new type of cosmic object

Key Points:

• Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have identified MoM-BH*-1, the most promising candidate yet for a "black hole star," a hypothetical object consisting of dense gas superheated by a giant black hole, dating back to about 660 million years after the Big Bang.
• MoM-BH*-1 is approximately 100 billion times brighter than a typical star and exhibits a deep Balmer break in its spectrum, indicating it is surrounded by extremely dense hydrogen and helium gas rather than dust, ruling out ordinary stars as its source.
• The black hole within MoM-BH*-1 is estimated to have a mass up to 100,000 times that of the Sun, qualifying it as supermassive, and its dense gas cocoon could explain why "little red dots" (LRDs)—distant crimson lights detected by JWST—emit little high-energy radiation, previously puzzling astronomers.
• Researchers propose that many LRDs might be mini-galaxies hosting black hole stars at their cores, potentially formed through collisions between black hole stars and primordial stellar clusters, with MoM-BH*-1 possibly undergoing such a collision in about 100 million years.
• While MoM-BH*-1 provides strong evidence for black hole stars, further research is necessary to confirm whether all LRDs are related to these exotic objects and to better understand their formation and properties.