The farther we peer back in cosmic time, the more surprises the universe reveals. A new analysis of observations by the revolutionary James Webb Space Telescope shows that supermassive black holes—long thought to have formed later in cosmic history—actually existed at the very dawn of time and played a pivotal role in birthing new stars.
These primordial black holes, residing in the centers of early galaxies, acted as unexpected “cosmic engines” that dramatically accelerated star formation during the first critical stages of cosmic evolution. Their powerful outflows and jets of turbulent plasma crushed nearby gas clouds and triggered a burst of stellar birth during the first 50 million years after the Big Bang—a fleeting period in the 13.8 billion-year cosmic timescale.
According to lead researcher Dr. Joseph Silk, professor at Johns Hopkins University, “We know these monster black holes exist at the center of nearby galaxies, but the big surprise now is that they were present at the beginning of the universe as well and were almost like building blocks or seeds for early galaxies.”
Unlike classical theories where black holes formed later from collapsed stars, these new insights suggest black holes and early galaxies evolved together—with the black holes’ violent winds “supercharging” star birth at rates exceeding models. “They really boosted everything, like gigantic amplifiers of star formation, which is a whole turnaround of what we thought possible before—so much so that this could completely shake up our understanding of how galaxies form,” says Dr. Silk.
The research team posits a “two-phase” model: an initial phase where black hole outflows accelerate star formation by crushing gas clouds, followed by a second phase where the pace slows as outflows transition to an energy conservation state. This leaves less gas available for stellar birth. But those first generations of stars formed at a startling rate.
While more precise Webb telescope observations to confirm the team’s calculations lie ahead, the revelations underscore how little we truly grasp about our cosmic origins. “The big question is, what were our beginnings?” asks Dr. Silk. “The sun is one star in 100 billion in the Milky Way galaxy, and there’s a massive black hole sitting in the middle too. What’s the connection between the two?” Unraveling those mysteries moves us dramatically closer to understanding our profoundly interconnected cosmic roots.
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