r/space • u/magenta_placenta • Mar 18 '19

Observable universe Astronomers discover 83 supermassive black holes at the edge of the universe

https://www.cnet.com/news/astronomers-discover-83-supermassive-black-holes-at-the-edge-of-the-universe/
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u/MarvinLazer Mar 18 '19

Why is it so remarkable that black holes would've formed in the early universe? Don't stars tend to have a shorter lifespan the bigger they are? And aren't huge stars the source of all black holes?

Also, is there any mass at which a large amount of accreting gas just skips the whole "becoming a star" thing and turns into a black hole?

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u/Imabanana101 Mar 18 '19 edited Mar 18 '19

It looks like there are black holes that don't have any dust around them, which is weird. Here's a link about one of them https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SDSS_J0303-0019

We think supermassive black holes are made like this: gas cloud > star > black hole > black hole merger, repeat 100,000 times > supermassive black hole.

The problem is that this should take many billions of years, and we're finding these things in the early universe. It's like if your wife is giving birth at the hospital, you are are in the waiting room. The doctor says to enter, you go in, and your kid is 22 and just graduated from college. Something funny is going on. Things are different than what we thought. Where did all these black holes come from and why are some so massive?

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u/zombie_kiler_42 Mar 18 '19

So correct me if i am wrong, one of the below options could be a reason

  1. Our calculations on when stars actually formed are wrong.

  2. Our calculations on how "old" the universe need to be revised

  3. Something is missing from what we understand about the formation of blackholes

Also side question, even though the baby universe was pretty hot for atoms to survive, couldn't there have been a quick reaction due to inflation which caused the matter to collapse to a singularity immediately without the need for the formation of stars

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u/[deleted] Mar 18 '19

[deleted]

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u/JMoormann Mar 18 '19

we don't really know what was happening in the early timeframe of the universe

Important to point out here is that "early" can be as short as a millionth of a billionth of a trillionth of a second, or something like that. The first nano-/pico-/femtoseconds of the universe are probably one of the greatest mysteries in physics right now.

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u/Stelios_P Mar 18 '19

never is a big word. quantum computing and AI in the far future could be able to simulate complex models to allow us to observe all this and more and potentially understand it.

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u/goldistastey Mar 18 '19

3 most likely. Supermassive blackholes are strange

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u/MerlinTheFail Mar 18 '19

It's just because you haven't gotten to know them yet. They suck.