MIT-led astronomers discover a new type of cosmic object called a 'black hole star'
Astronomers led by MIT's Rohan Naidu found an object, MoM-BH*-1, that produces 100 billion times more energy than any star, powered by a black hole about 100,000 times the Sun's mass wrapped in a solar-system-sized gas envelope. Published August 12 in Nature. Per MIT/ScienceDaily and CBS News.
A team led by MIT's Rohan Naidu used the James Webb Space Telescope to identify an object dating to just 660 million years after the Big Bang that looks like an enormous star but produces roughly 100 billion times more energy than any star could generate through nuclear fusion. Researchers propose the object, named MoM-BH*-1, is a new kind of astrophysical source they call a 'black hole star': a black hole with a mass around 100,000 times that of the Sun, wrapped in an extremely dense, star-like envelope of hydrogen gas roughly the size of our solar system. The study, published August 12, 2026 in the journal Nature, suggests the discovery could help explain the mysterious 'little red dots' - roughly 300 unusually bright red objects JWST has spotted throughout the early universe since going online in 2022. Sources: MIT/ScienceDaily, CBS News/AFP.