Astronomers have identified a rare galactic system that may offer the strongest evidence yet for how supermassive black holes can form under extreme conditions. The object, nicknamed the "Infinity" galaxy, was discovered in archival data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) by Pieter van Dokkum (Yale University) and Gabriel Brammer (University of Copenhagen).
The galaxy lies at a redshift of z = 1.14, more than eight billion light-years away. Redshift is a phenomenon that occurs when light is stretched to longer wavelengths, and astronomers use it to measure distances, velocities, and the universe’s expansion.
JWST imaging reveals two compact galactic nuclei, each with a stellar mass of about 10¹¹ solar masses, separated by ~10 kiloparsecs. Both are surrounded by stellar rings or shells, creating a figure-eight shape reminiscent of the infinity symbol. This morphology resembles the nearby system II Hz 4, where a head-on collision of two disk galaxies produced collisional rings.
Follow-up observations with the W.M. Keck Observatory, the Very Large Array, and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory confirmed the presence of an actively accreting supermassive black hole. Remarkably, this black hole is not located in either nucleus but lies between them, both spatially and in velocity. It shows quasar-like luminosity in radio and X-ray wavelengths, indicating rapid growth.
JWST’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) detected excess emission in the F150W filter, revealing that the black hole is embedded in hydrogen gas emitting strongly in the Hα spectral line. The emission, with equivalent widths of 400–2000 angstroms, indicates a highly ionized, turbulent environment. The gas spans the system and appears shocked and compressed at the collision site, similar to the large-scale dynamics of the “bullet cluster.”
Both galactic nuclei also host their own active supermassive black holes, bringing the system’s total to three. The central one, however, appears to have formed in situ within the shocked gas rather than being carried in by either galaxy. Researchers propose that this may represent a case of direct collapse, where a massive gas cloud collapses under gravity to form a black hole without first fragmenting into stars.
This discovery has major implications for the debate over early black hole formation. The “light seeds” theory, which suggests black holes began as stellar remnants and grew through mergers, struggles to explain the rapid emergence of billion-solar-mass black holes observed by JWST at early cosmic times. The “heavy seeds” theory, in which black holes form directly from collapsing gas clouds, offers a faster route but has lacked observational support. The Infinity galaxy’s structure, gas distribution, and central black hole provide compelling evidence for this pathway.
Further simulations and JWST spectroscopy will be needed to confirm whether direct collapse is indeed occurring. If validated, the Infinity galaxy would represent the first direct evidence of this process, offering a new explanation for the rapid rise of supermassive black holes in the early universe.
"... we think we’re witnessing the birth of a supermassive black hole — something that has never been seen before,” van Dokkum said.
For now, the Infinity galaxy stands as a rare and complex system: two massive galaxies colliding, three active black holes, and one possible glimpse of a black hole at the moment of its birth.
Source: Yale University, NASA, IOP Science | Image via Depositphotos
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