Black Holes in Early Universe Data: Revisiting the Standard Cosmological Model
- October 22, 2024
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
Black Holes in Early Universe Data: Revisiting the Standard Cosmological Model
Sub : Sci
Sec: Space sector
Why in News
Recent studies using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) raised questions about the standard cosmological model, suggesting that massive galaxies existed earlier than previously believed. A new study published on August 26 in the Astrophysical Journal provides a possible explanation, which could protect the standard model from being revised.
The Standard Model of Cosmology
The universe, originating from the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago, gradually cooled and allowed the formation of matter into stars and galaxies.
According to the standard model, stars first appeared 100-200 million years post-Big Bang, and galaxies within a billion years. JWST’s data showing well-developed galaxies earlier posed a challenge to this understanding.
The study also highlights that massive black hole, often referred to as “little red dots” due to their faint light, significantly contribute to the total light emitted by galaxies.
Previous studies may have overestimated the mass of stars in these galaxies due to the additional light from black holes. When this factor was corrected in the new analysis, the galaxies were found to be less massive, aligning with the predictions of the standard model.
About Black Holes:
Black holes are mysterious cosmic objects, often misunderstood. They are not actual holes but incredibly dense concentrations of matter.
It is typically formed during supernova explosions.
A black hole’s event horizon, just beneath its surface, has such intense gravity that nothing, not even light, can escape it.
This event horizon contains all the matter that makes up the black hole.
Black holes are invisible to telescopes because they do not emit or reflect light. Scientists detect and study them through various means:
Accretion disks: Rings of gas and dust around black holes emit light, including X-rays.
Stellar orbits: Intense gravity from supermassive black holes causes stars to orbit them uniquely.
Gravitational waves: Massive objects create ripples in space-time when they accelerate, which scientists can detect.
Gravitational lensing: Black holes can bend and distort light from distant objects, revealing their presence.
Closest: The nearest known black hole, 1A 06200-00, is 3,000 light-years away.
Farthest: In the galaxy, QSO J0313-1806, is about 13 billion light-years away.
Biggest: TON 618, is 66 billion times the mass of the Sun.
Smallest: The lightest-known black hole is only 3.8 times the Sun’s mass and is paired with a star.
Spaghettification: The process by which (in some theories) an object would be stretched and ripped apart by gravitational forces on falling into a black hole.
It’s squeezed horizontally and stretched vertically, resembling a noodle.
Spin: All black holes spin, with the fastest-known, GRS 1915+105, rotating over 1,000 times per second.
Particle accelerators: Monster black holes at galaxy centers can launch particles to nearly light speed.
Not so rare: Most Milky Way-sized galaxies have supermassive black holes at their centers, such as Sagittarius A*, which is 4 million times the mass of the Sun.
About James Webb Space Telescope (JWST):
Largest and most powerful telescope in space.
It has a huge mirror that is five times bigger than that of its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope.
JWST was launched on Christmas Day in 2021 and arrived at its destination, the Sun-Earth Lagrange point 2 in January 2022
The telescope has been looking at the early epochs in the history of the Universe, when the first galaxies had barely formed.
Its images were, however, very different from what astronomers had thought they would see.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST or “Webb”) is a joint NASA–ESA–CSA space telescope that is planned to succeed the Hubble Space Telescope as NASA’s flagship astrophysics mission.
The JWST will provide improved infrared resolution and sensitivity over Hubble, and will enable a broad range of investigations across the fields of astronomy and cosmology, including observing some of the most distant events and objects in the universe, such as the formation of the first galaxies.
JWST will study various phases in the history of the universe, from the formation of solar systems to the evolution of our own Solar System.
The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb) is an orbiting infrared observatory that will complement and extend the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope, with longer wavelength coverage and greatly improved sensitivity.