Recent research reveals that scientists have shed light on a long-standing conundrum about ancient supermassive black holes and the galaxies they inhabit by observing very bright objects that existed 500 million to one billion years after the Big Bang.
Nothing, not even light, can escape the gravitational pull of a black hole. Even though there are unsolved issues concerning black holes of all sizes and ages, the supermassive black holes that existed in the early universe are especially puzzling.
For instance, it is unknown how these monstrous objects became so enormous so early in the universe’s history, with some reaching masses one billion times that of the Sun. In addition, scientists have long pondered what restrained those early growth surges and drove supermassive black holes towards a more symbiotic evolution with their host galaxies.
Now, scientists headed by Manuela Bischetti, a postdoctoral researcher at the Astronomical Observatory of Trieste for Italy’s National Institute of Astrophysics, have uncovered the surprising revelation that extraordinarily powerful winds from early supermassive black holes likely inhibited their expansion.
According to a study published in Nature, Bischetti and her colleagues observed 30 quasars, which are extremely bright objects often found at the center of ancient galaxies, and identified these winds as the initial stage of “black hole feedback,” a process central to the formation of modern galaxies, including our own Milky Way.
