New Evidence Reveals Black Holes as Building Blocks of Early Galaxies

Photo byPhoto by NASA Hubble Space Telescope on Unsplash

Whether stars and galaxies formed before black holes or vice versa has long puzzled scientists studying the universe's origins. Traditionally, it was assumed that stars and galaxies preceded black holes, but a recent analysis of early universe data collected by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) challenges this notion.

According to astronomers, new findings suggest that black holes and galaxies emerged simultaneously, with black holes acting as building blocks or seeds for early galaxies. These supermassive black holes, millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun, were present very early in the universe's history, even before the first galaxies formed.

The JWST revealed supermassive black holes less than 500 million years after the Big Bang, indicating another mechanism for black hole formation apart from the collapse of massive stars. Instead, vast clouds of matter collapsed directly into black holes, coexisting with and influencing the growth of baby galaxies.

This coexistence led to a symbiotic relationship between black holes and galaxies. The feeding process of black holes produced powerful winds and jets of high-speed plasma that compressed surrounding gas clouds, triggering intense waves of star formation. This suggests that black holes played a significant role in shaping galaxies by accelerating star formation.

Researchers propose that this model, supported by observations, challenges the traditional understanding of galactic formation as a linear process. Instead, it suggests a dynamic interplay between black holes and galaxies, transforming the early universe into the diverse population of galaxies observed today.

Further observations and analysis are needed to refine this model, but it represents a significant shift in understanding the complex processes that shaped the universe's evolution.