NASA/ESA/CSA official announcements or peer-reviewed scientific publications

James Webb Telescope Detects Most Distant Black Hole Merger 740 Million Years Ago

May 16, 2024, 03:57 PM

Astronomers have used the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to detect the most distant black hole merger ever observed. This record-breaking event occurred just 740 million years after the universe-forming Big Bang. The discovery sheds new light on how supermassive black holes grow and evolve in the early universe. The system, known as ZS7, involves the ongoing merger of two galaxies and their massive black holes. The new Webb observations include a NIRcam image and a video of the event.