Black Hole Observed Feeding at 40x Its Limit
Astronomers have observed a black hole consuming matter at a rate 40 times higher than the Eddington limit, challenging existing theories of black hole growth. This discovery was made using data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and Chandra X-ray Observatory, focusing on a galaxy approximately 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang. The black hole's rapid accretion rate suggests that early supermassive black holes could grow faster than previously thought, potentially explaining their presence in the early universe.
The Eddington limit defines the maximum luminosity a celestial body can achieve when radiation pressure outward balances gravitational pull inward. Exceeding this limit was considered unlikely, as the intense radiation would repel incoming matter, halting further growth. However, this black hole's feeding frenzy indicates that under certain conditions, black holes can surpass this threshold, leading to rapid mass accumulation.
This finding has significant implications for our understanding of black hole formation and evolution. It suggests that early black holes could have grown to supermassive sizes more quickly than current models predict, possibly due to unique environmental factors in the early universe. Further research is needed to determine how common such super-Eddington accretion events were and their impact on galaxy formation and evolution.
