Mysterious red dots from the James Webb telescope may be ‘black hole stars’

An artist’s impression of a window into the heart of a little red dot, revealing the supermassive black hole within. (Image credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/M. Weiss; adapted by K. Arcand and J. Major.)

doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ae4c88
Credibility: 959
#Mysterious red dots

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (James Webb) has revealed, early in its scientific observations, an intriguing class of objects in the early Universe

These are hundreds of small, compact red dots, located at enormous distances-about 12 billion light-years or more from Earth-known as “little red dots” (LRDs), or simply red dots.

These objects intrigue astronomers because they don’t easily fit into traditional explanations.

Many scientists believe these red dots are supermassive black holes still in their early stages of growth, enveloped by dense clouds of gas.

This “curtain” of gas would hide the usual signals we use to identify black holes, such as the bright ultraviolet light and X-rays emitted by the material falling into them.

Instead, what we observe is a reddish, compact appearance, similar to that of a star.

Therefore, some researchers call this hypothesis the “black hole star” scenario.

“Red dots.”

Now, data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have provided an important clue that could help solve this enigma.

Astronomers have identified a special object, nicknamed an “X-ray spot” (officially 3DHST-AEGIS-12014), located approximately 11.8 billion light-years from Earth.

It shares almost all the characteristics of typical red dots-it’s small, red, and very distant-but, unlike the others, it emits detectable X-rays.

This discovery acts as a bridge between “black hole stars” and the supermassive black holes that grow in the usual way.

Raphael Hviding, from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany, lead author of the study, explains: “Astronomers have been trying to understand what red dots are for several years.

This single X-ray object may be what allows us to connect all the dots.” The finding was made possible by comparing the new Webb images with a previous in-depth survey conducted by Chandra.

Researchers suggest that this X-ray spot represents a transitional phase.

As the black hole consumes the gas around it, openings appear in the dense clouds.

This allows some of the X-rays to escape and be captured by Chandra.

Over time, all the gas would be consumed, and the “black hole star” would disappear, giving way to a typical supermassive black hole.

There are also indications of variation in the intensity of the X-rays, which reinforces the idea that the object is partially obscured by rotating gas clouds.

Hanpu Liu, from Princeton University, highlights the importance: “If we confirm that this is a transitioning red dot, not only would it be the first of its kind, but we could be seeing the heart of one of these objects for the first time.

It would also be the strongest evidence yet that the growth of supermassive black holes is at the heart of many, if not all, red dots.”

There is also an alternative possibility: the object could be a common supermassive black hole, but enveloped in an exotic type of dust never seen before.

Future observations with different telescopes should help clarify which explanation is correct.

This collaboration between James Webb and Chandra shows the power of uniting different observatories.

As Andy Goulding, also from Princeton, recalls: “The X-ray spot had been stored in our Chandra data for over ten years, but we didn’t know how special it was until Webb observed the same region.” The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and represents a significant advance in understanding how giant black holes formed and grew in the first billion years of the Universe.

This discovery not only illuminates the mystery of red spots, but also helps us to better assemble the puzzle of cosmic evolution, showing that the young Universe was more dynamic and surprising than we imagined.

Published in 04/30/2026 20h09

Portuguese version

Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption. Information about DOI, author and institution can be found in the body of the article.

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