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Space Discoveries • Supermassive Black Holes • NASA • James Webb Space Telescope • Early Universe

LID-568: The Black Hole That Defies the Laws of Physics

A groundbreaking discovery by an international team using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Chandra X-ray Observatory has unveiled a mysterious black hole—LID-568—that is rewriting the rules of cosmic evolution. This supermassive black hole is consuming matter at a rate 40 times higher than believed possible, challenging long-held theories of black hole formation in the early universe.

🕳️ What Are Supermassive Black Holes?

• Reside at the centres of galaxies.
• Range from millions to billions of solar masses.
• Example: Sagittarius A* in our Milky Way weighs 4.3 million solar masses.
• Their origin and growth patterns remain one of astronomy’s greatest mysteries.

🔭 Meet LID-568: The Cosmic Anomaly

• Discovered: 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang.
• Mass: 10 million times that of the Sun.
• Instruments: First spotted by Chandra X-ray, confirmed and analysed by JWST using infrared technology.
• Feeding Frenzy: Growing at super-Eddington speeds, defying traditional astrophysical limits.

⚖️ What is the Eddington Limit?

• The Eddington limit defines the maximum feeding rate of a black hole where inward gravity equals outward radiation pressure.
• LID-568’s accretion rate exceeds this by nearly 40 times—a phenomenon called super-Eddington accretion.
• This suggests new dynamics in how early black holes consume matter and grow.

🧬 Primordial Black Hole Possibility

Unlike black holes born from collapsed stars, LID-568 may be primordial—formed from:

• Direct collapse of early gas clouds
• Or from explosions of the universe’s first stars

This opens up a new window into early universe evolution, hinting that supermassive black holes could form and grow much faster than once thought.

🌌 Why This Discovery Matters

• Challenges Existing Models: Standard theories can’t explain such rapid mass accumulation so early in cosmic history.
• Suggests Intense Feeding Phases: Supermassive black holes might grow via short-lived, powerful bursts of accretion rather than slow, steady feeding.
• Impacts Cosmic Timelines: LID-568 forces us to rethink how quickly galaxies and black holes evolved after the Big Bang.

As telescopes like JWST continue to peer deeper into the past, LID-568 reminds us that the universe still holds secrets far beyond our current understanding—and we’ve only just begun to uncover them.