An international team of scientists from the US, France, UK and Israel has found a possible answer to the cosmic version of the chicken and egg riddle. Astrophysicists have concluded that the first black holes in the Universe may have appeared before galaxies. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Astrophysical Journal Letters (TAJL).
The experts’ conclusions are based on observational data from the James Webb Space Telescope.
“We know that these massive black holes are found at the centers of galaxies near the Milky Way, but their presence at the dawn of the Universe was a big surprise,” said Professor Joseph Silk, lead author of the study.
It is generally accepted that black holes formed after the collapse of supermassive stars, and that galaxies formed after the first stars appeared illuminated the dark early Universe.
But Silk’s team’s analysis shows that black holes and galaxies coexisted and influenced each other’s fate for the first 100 million years.
Astrophysicists believe that galaxies form as a result of the collapse of a giant gas cloud. At the center of this cloud was a massive black hole, which, like a seed, was turning the inside of matter into stars.
“We argue that black holes emit streams of gas, turning them into stars and significantly increasing the rate of star formation. Otherwise, it is difficult to explain how bright galaxies could emerge so quickly,” said Professor Silk.
Previous scientists discovered A “hysterical” black hole that chaotically vomits matter in different directions.