Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have detected the most distant, actively-feeding supermassive black hole ever observed. The black hole also happens to be one of the least massive seen in the early universe — measuring the equivalent of about 9 million suns — which is proving challenging to explain.
Researchers observed the galaxy hosting this active supermassive black hole as part of the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey. Designated CEERS 1019, the galaxy is seen as it was when the 13.8 billion-year-old universe was just around 570 million years old.
