Overview
- A paper published Wednesday by Vasily Kokorev and colleagues in The Astrophysical Journal reports the deepest spectrum yet of GLIMPSE-17775 and interprets it as a rapidly feeding black hole enshrouded in a dense gas cocoon called a “black hole star.”
- The JWST data, boosted by gravitational lensing from the Abell S1063 cluster, revealed more than 40 spectral lines including hydrogen, helium, oxygen and about 16 iron emission lines that collectively signal strong electron scattering and reprocessed emission.
- The dense-cocoon model explains the objects’ red color, compact size and weak X-ray signals because the gas scatters, absorbs and re-emits high-energy photons before they escape.
- The authors warn that standard methods for estimating black hole mass can be biased in such dense, optically thick gas, so some previous claims of very large early black holes may overstate masses rather than demand new cosmology.
- The result strengthens the black-hole-star explanation for at least some little red dots but the team and other researchers say larger samples, independent confirmations and multiwavelength follow-up are needed to learn how common this phenomenon is and how it links to other JWST black-hole claims.