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JWST Survey Points to 'Black Hole Stars' as the Source of Early-Universe Red Dots

A peer‑reviewed analysis of 4,500 galaxies spotlights an extreme object called The Cliff, pointing to dense gas around a feeding black hole.

Scientists using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope now think the "little red dots" spotted in the early universe could be a new kind of space object. They call it a "black hole star."
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Overview

  • Astronomy & Astrophysics published the study advancing a model in which some compact red sources are supermassive black holes shrouded by hydrogen that makes their light appear star‑like.
  • The team used nearly 60 hours of JWST spectroscopy in 2024 to build one of the telescope’s largest datasets, enabling a re‑interpretation of the objects previously tagged as surprisingly mature galaxies.
  • The Cliff emerged as the most extreme case, showing a star‑like signal, an extremely small extent of roughly 40 light‑years, and no detected X‑rays, which disfavors a normal star cluster or galaxy.
  • Researchers argue that a dense, cool envelope around a rapidly accreting black hole can reproduce the cold, high‑density spectral features and could help explain rapid early growth of supermassive black holes.
  • Key inconsistencies remain, including evidence of very hot, fast gas coexisting with cold, dense material, prompting calls for deeper JWST spectroscopy and targeted X‑ray and molecular‑line searches.