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[00:00.04]Astronomers say they have identified the most distant,

[00:05.56]active supermassive black hole ever observed.

[00:11.04]The observation came from data collected

[00:15.40]by the James Webb Space Telescope,

[00:18.64]which the American space agency NASA operates.

[00:23.60]Researchers said the newly discovered black hole

[00:28.40]is at the center of a galaxy called CEERS 1019.

[00:35.32]The galaxy is estimated to have existed

[00:39.20]about 570 million years after the Big Bang.

[00:45.00]The Big Bang is the explosion

[00:48.00]many scientists believe created the universe.

[00:53.00]Scientists estimate the Big Bang happened

[00:57.24]around 14 billion years ago

[01:00.72]and was followed by a period of intense

[01:04.28]development across the universe.

[01:07.52]Steven Finkelstein is an astronomer

[01:11.44]at the University of Texas at Austin who helped lead the research.

[01:17.64]He told The Associated Press

[01:20.52]that Webb has already observed other black holes

[01:25.20]that appear to be even closer to the Big Bang.

[01:29.40]But those findings are still being studied.

[01:33.48]The latest study results have been accepted for publication

[01:38.64]in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

[01:42.60]The black hole was observed in February

[01:46.76]by imaging and data instruments built into the Webb.

[01:52.16]Researchers say it is on the smaller side,

[01:56.76]about 9 million times the mass of our sun.

[02:01.44]That is smaller than any black hole yet identified

[02:06.48]in the early universe, the team said.

[02:10.16]Researchers say signals from the observed black hole

[02:15.44]are weak so more observations will be needed to confirm the findings.

[02:21.52]Finkelstein said there are numerous non-active black holes,

[02:27.44]some of which are even more distant than the one observed.

[02:32.64]But without any observable gas, they cannot be identified.

[02:38.40]The team also used the Webb to study

[02:42.84]two other small black holes from the early universe.

[02:47.24]These objects dated back to around 1 billion years after the Big Bang.

[02:54.76]The observations suggest these smaller black holes

[02:59.72]may have been more common as the universe began to develop.

[03:05.24]"There are probably many more hidden

[03:08.84]little monsters out there waiting to be found," said Dale Kocevski.

[03:15.08]He was part of the research team,

[03:17.96]representing Colby College in Maine.

[03:21.56]Launched in late 2021, NASA's Webb is the largest,

[03:27.64]most powerful telescope ever sent into space.

[03:31.88]Its first images and science results

[03:35.84]were released by NASA about one year ago.

[03:40.00]The Webb is a large infrared telescope

[03:44.32]designed to gather more in-depth data

[03:47.60]and explore parts of space never observed before.

[03:52.84]The device collects infrared waves --

[03:56.56]electromagnetic energy that cannot be seen with the human eye.

[04:02.28]Infrared waves pass through gas and dust that can hide objects in space.

[04:09.24]The infrared system can also show light

[04:13.40]from more distant parts of the universe.

[04:16.76]NASA recently celebrated the Webb's one-year anniversary

[04:21.76]by releasing a new image observed by the telescope.

[04:26.76]The image shows 50 baby stars in a cloud collection

[04:31.96]about 390 light-years from Earth.

[04:36.12]A light-year is 9.7 trillion kilometers.

[04:41.28]The image shows an area of space

[04:45.12]that is full of bright hydrogen gases and dense collections of dust.

[04:51.76]All the young stars appear to be no bigger than our sun.

[04:57.24]Scientists said it is a good image

[05:01.16]of this brief period in a star's life.

[05:05.36]NASA program scientist Eric Smith

[05:08.76]told the AP about the image:

[05:11.56]"It's like a glimpse of what our own system would have looked like

[05:17.00]billions of years ago when it was forming."

[05:20.84]I'm Bryan Lynn.

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Words in This Story

supermassive – adj. used to describe something that has an extremely large mass

monster –n. a horrible imaginary creature

glimpse – n. to see something or someone for a very brief moment

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