Mysterious 'dots' discovered by JWST may be the 1st stars in the universe on the verge of collapse
Yahoo • • science
Key Points:
- Astronomers propose that the "little red dots" discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope, previously thought to be black holes, may instead be supermassive stars from the early universe, known as Population III stars.
- These stars, potentially up to a million times the mass of the sun, could explain the dots' extreme brightness and unique spectral features, including a distinctive "V-shaped" dip caused by the star's atmosphere rather than dust.
- The supermassive stars would have short lifespans, from 10,000 to a million years, making the observation window narrow and raising questions about the large number of little red dots detected.
- Alternative explanations include accreting black holes formed from direct gas cloud collapse
