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JWST Discovers 100,000-Solar-Mass “Black Hole Star”

8/16/2026

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Summary

Story summary

U.S. astronomers announced the discovery of a ‘black hole star’ MoM-BH*-1 with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
Author Rohan Naidu reported a central black hole of 100,000 solar masses.
The object, encased in a hydrogen envelope spanning the solar system, appears star-like and emits 100 billion times more energy than any star.
A galaxy will merge with MoM-BH*-1 in about 100 million years, after which it may appear as red dots.

History

Historical Context

In 1964 a sounding-rocket survey discovered the bright X-ray source Cyg X-1 in Cygnus, later shown by 1970 Uhuru data to be a ~21-solar-mass black hole about 7,000 light-years away. That breakthrough, highlighted by researchers such as Riccardo Giacconi and Stephen Hawking’s 1975 wager, set the template for black-hole studies. Today JWST’s detection of a 100,000-solar-mass black-hole candidate builds on the same X-ray binary paradigm.

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Story summary

U.S. astronomers announced the discovery of a ‘black hole star’ MoM-BH*-1 with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
Author Rohan Naidu reported a central black hole of 100,000 solar masses.
The object, encased in a hydrogen envelope spanning the solar system, appears star-like and emits 100 billion times more energy than any star.
A galaxy will merge with MoM-BH*-1 in about 100 million years, after which it may appear as red dots.

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