Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics simulated early galaxies and found that strong ultraviolet light can prevent gas clouds from forming many smaller stars. One supermassive star may instead form and collapse into a black hole with a million Suns of mass, a possible explanation for JWST’s little red dots.
If the interpretation holds, the dots may mark a brief stage when some of the universe’s first supermassive black holes formed. The simulated seeds are about ten times more massive than theories expect, and the model matches the red light pattern tied to hydrogen. Those details give astronomers specific ways to test the idea and study early black-hole growth.
✦ Little red dots may mark a brief stage when massive black holes form and rapidly grow.