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Space

JWST has spotted the earliest black hole ever seen in the universe

The discovery of a black hole that formed just 570 million years after the big bang could help us understand the evolution of these cosmic behemoths

By Alex Wilkins

30 March 2023

Supermassive black hole

How do supermassive black holes, as seen in this illustration, get so big?

Shutterstock/Sahara Prince

The earliest known black hole in the universe has been spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and it could tell us about the origin of supermassive black holes that formed much later.

Many galaxies have a supermassive black hole at their centre, but it is unclear exactly how they became so large. One possibility is they were formed by small black holes, created by early stars collapsing, joining together over time. Another suggestion is they are …

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