Stunning space snap hides rare ‘one-in-a-thousand' secret – and it may be the first time it has ever been seen by humans
IN THE STARS Stunning space snap hides rare 'one-in-a-thousand' secret – and it may be the first time it has ever been seen by humans
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A STUNNING photo has captured a rare secret among the stars - and it could be the first time the phenomenon has ever been seen.
Astronomers believe they have photographed the first ever birth of a supermassive black hole.
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While experts have gained an understanding of what these supersized giants are, they previously didn't know how they were created.
A supermassive black hole weighs millions, to tens of billions, of Suns, and form the centre of almost every galaxy.
It forms the gravitational centre for everything else - including stars and planets - to revolve around.
However, scientists now believe they have seen a supermassive black hole being formed for the first time ever.
1
Three supermassive black holes can be seen in a newfound discovery
Credit: NASA
This could provide valuable insight into the space wonder.
The process was captured in a pair of galaxies whose light has travelled for 8.3 million years according to Science Alert.
The discovery was made by a Yale-led astronomy team, in a galaxy they've called "Infinity".
Its name comes from its figure-eight shape, as three supermassive black holes can be seen as the galaxies collide.
Within each galaxy a supermassive black hole can be seen at its nucleus, with a third glowing at their overlap.
The team used a James Webb Space Telescope to observe the two recently-collided galaxies.
CLOSE CALL 'It was a sign' - Clare girl, 10, spots surprise comet that 'shines brighter than Venus'
Within the cloud of gas at its centre, they identified a supermassive black hole.
Unusually, the black hole was not located at the nucleus of the vast galaxy, but rather in the middle of where they were colliding.
This gave them an indication that they might be witnessing an unprecedented event.
Yale astonomer Pieter van Dokkum said: "We think we're witnessing the birth of a supermassive black hole - something that has never been seen before."
There are currently a number of theories regarding the formation of black holes.
This includes the "light seeds" theory, in which small black holes are believed to have been formed when stars' cores collapsed and exploded.
These smaller black holes are believed to have then merged into the supermassive versions.
However, this theory has been somewhat debunked by research that found supermassive black holes that were born too early for this long-term merging to have taken place.
Instead, the "heavy seeds" theory has been favoured by some astronomers.
This argues that larger black holes can form when large clouds of gas collapse, although typically this is known to form stars.
The Infinity galaxy could support the "heavy seeds" theory by showing how, in extreme conditions, a gas collapse could create a black hole.
The team is pursuing ongoing research to confirm the findings.
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