James Webb Space Telescope Discovers New Type Of Star Powered By Black Holes Instead Of Fusion
Key Points:
- Scientists have discovered a new celestial object called a "black hole star," which is a dense gas cloud surrounding a black hole and powered by the black hole's energy rather than nuclear fusion.
- This object is extremely bright—100 billion times brighter than an ordinary star—and exhibits characteristics of both stars and black holes.
- The discovery was made using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope while observing distant galaxies, where unexplained bright red dots appeared, later identified as black hole stars.
- Black hole stars are ancient, observed only in the early universe, and may represent an early phase in the formation of supermassive black holes.
- This breakthrough opens new avenues for astronomical research, as black hole stars challenge existing understanding of cosmic phenomena.