JWST Detects Three Supermassive Black Holes in Single Distant Galaxy for First Time
JWST has detected three actively accreting supermassive black holes in the distant galaxy J0148-4214, the first confirmed instance of such a triple system in the early universe.
Astronomers working with the James Webb Space Telescope have detected three actively accreting examples of a Supermassive black hole in the distant galaxy J0148-4214, confirming three actively accreting black holes in a single galaxy (J0148-4214) about 1.2 billion years after the Big Bang, the first evidence of three active black holes in a single galaxy in the distant Universe, with solar masses of 80 million, 0.6 million, and 2 million.
The galaxy lies more than 12.5 billion light-years from Earth at a redshift of z=5.02, and the identification relied on spatially resolved spectroscopy with JWST/NIRSpec-IFS confirming three actively accreting supermassive black holes in J0148-4214, with two black holes in the galaxy’s centre separated by only 620 light-years in projection, and a third located approximately 5500 light-years from the centre.
Both research teams describe the finding as the first confirmed detection of three actively accreting black holes in a single galaxy in the distant universe, enabled by JWST’s NIRSpec-IFS instrument which provides the high-resolution spatial data needed to distinguish separate accreting sources within a single distant galaxy.
The two black holes clustered in the galaxy’s centre are separated by just 620 light-years in projection, while the third is located approximately 5500 light-years from the centre, as measured via the spatially resolved spectroscopic data.
The three black holes have masses ranging from 2 million to 80 million times the mass of the Sun, including a 0.6 million solar mass object in the trio, per the initial detection team’s published measurements.
J0148-4214 sits at a redshift of z=5.02, more than 12.5 billion light-years from Earth, consistent with the 1.2 billion year post-Big Bang epoch reported by the initial detection team.
The detection represents the first confirmed instance of three actively accreting supermassive black holes in a single distant galaxy, as documented by both research teams.