Discover the universe's oldest black hole, defying the mysteries of space

 According to NASA, "A black hole is an astronomical object whose gravitational pull is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape it."

Black holes are some of the strangest and most fascinating objects in space.

Which is the oldest black hole?

Scientists unveiled an unprecedented discovery on Wednesday, February 14, 2024.\

They revealed the identity of the oldest black hole ever observed, estimated to be 13 billion years old, which is actively swallowing its host galaxy.

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The record-breaking quasar is 500 trillion times brighter than our Sun.

The black hole powering this distant quasar is 17 billion times more massive than our Sun, an Australian-led team reported in the journal Nature Astronomy.

U.K. The fact that it exists so early in the universe "challenges our assumptions about how black holes form and grow," according to a statement from the University of Cambridge.

Black holes explained: why they're some of the strangest objects in space

According to the University of Cambridge, astronomers suggest that the newly discovered black hole may be "big from birth" or capable of eating matter at a speed five times greater than estimated.

Did the James Webb Telescope Find the Oldest Black Hole?

Astronomers made the discovery with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), also known as the flagship observatory of the next decade, according to NASA.

JWST was launched on December 25, 2021, from the European Space Agency's spaceport in French Guiana.

According to NASA, this advanced telescope has a large 6.5 meter primary mirror, which focuses observations in the infrared spectrum.

What are some facts about the first black hole?

In April 2019, the world was mesmerized by the discovery of Powehi, the first black hole located at the center of the galaxy M87, 55 million light years away.

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The supermassive black hole, which weighs 6.5 billion times the mass of our Sun, was revealed through collaborative efforts with the Event Horizon Telescope, the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard and Smithsonian report.

How long can a black hole live?

In theory, the lifetime of black holes is linked to the rate of their Hawking radiation emission.

Hawking radiation is a theoretical prediction by physicist Stephen Hawking that states that black holes are not completely black, but instead emit small amounts of thermal radiation.

According to Stephen Hawking's theoretical work, "Black holes can gradually lose mass and energy over time through this process, which is a form of quantum mechanical radiation associated with the event horizon."

For stellar-mass black holes formed by the collapse of massive stars, the time scale of significant Hawking radiation and mass loss is much longer than the current age of the universe. Therefore, according to Hawking radiation, these black holes are effectively stable and can exist for astronomical periods of time.

Supermassive black holes found at the centers of galaxies are thought to have formed through different mechanisms and are significantly more massive, says the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard and Smithsonian.

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The timescales associated with Hawking radiation from supermassive black holes are even longer, making them exceptionally stable in the universe.

Has a black hole ever collapsed?

Once a black hole forms, it does not undergo further collapse in the sense of shrinking or disappearing.

According to West Texas A&M University, black holes are remarkably stable objects, and their key characteristics are determined by their mass, spin and electric charge.

However, black holes can interact with other celestial bodies, leading to processes such as accretion or mergers with other black holes, which can change the black hole's properties but do not involve collapse, NASA says. .

Beyond their celestial allure, black holes play a vital role in shaping galaxies, providing scientists with invaluable insights into the basic workings of gravity, space-time, and the life cycles of stars.