The black hole appears far too massive for its host galaxy, placing it in a rare category of “overmassive” black holes.
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For decades, astronomers have studied galaxy formation, but the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has now revealed a galaxy with a dual personality, earning it the nickname “Jekyll and Hyde.” Known as Virgil, the galaxy shows a mild-mannered side, forming stars quietly, while its hidden core harbours a heavily obscured supermassive black hole that pours out immense energy. The black hole appears far too massive for its host galaxy, placing it in a rare category of “overmassive” black holes and challenging existing models of galaxy and black hole co-evolution.
Hidden Power of Early-Universe Black Hole
According to a NASA report, JWST’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) unveiled Virgil’s monstrous side. “UV and optical observations show the ‘good’ side, but MIRI data reveal the black hole’s intense energy output,” said co-team leader George Rieke of the University of Arizona. The study suggests that many dust-obscured black holes could be hiding in galaxies once thought ordinary, waiting to be uncovered by infrared observations.
Virgil is a member of a class of early-universe galaxies known as Little Red Dots, which the JWST has detected in significant numbers appearing around 600 million years after the Big Bang.
JWST’s MIRI Uncovers Hidden Galaxies
These galaxies largely disappear by two billion years, and Virgil may help identify their descendants. MIRI can peer beyond UV and visible light to show the universe as it’s never been seen before, explained Pierluigi Rinaldi of the Space Telescope Science Institute.
The discovery of Virgil is an example of the mastery of the telescope to reveal previously invisible monsters in the cosmos and add clarity to our perceptions of the universe’s early evolution.
