Ancient Supermassive Black Hole Discovered by Webb Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered an active supermassive black hole within the galaxy CEERS 1019, which is more than 13 billion years old. The black hole is surprisingly small, measuring about 9 million solar masses, much less than other black holes detected in the early universe. The Webb telescope's ability to detect such a dim and distant black hole is due to its highly sensitive instruments. Researchers also found two other lightweight black holes formed about 1 billion years after the big bang, as well as eleven new galaxies. The small size of the black hole in CEERS 1019 and the galaxy's unique structure raise questions about their formation and the role of galaxy mergers in fueling black hole activity and star formation. Further analysis of data may reveal more distant black holes in the future.