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James Webb Telescope Reveals Supermassive Black Holes as Stars

10/1/2025

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Summary

Story summary

James Webb Space Telescope data suggest many 'little red dots' are not ancient galaxies but supermassive black holes, termed black hole stars (BH*).
The Cliff shows a steep Balmer break in its spectrum, indicating an active galactic nucleus rather than dense stellar populations.
The team, led by Anna de Graaff, plans further JWST observations to test the BH* model.

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Story summary

James Webb Space Telescope data suggest many 'little red dots' are not ancient galaxies but supermassive black holes, termed black hole stars (BH*).
The Cliff shows a steep Balmer break in its spectrum, indicating an active galactic nucleus rather than dense stellar populations.
The team, led by Anna de Graaff, plans further JWST observations to test the BH* model.