Fog Passes Off Tiny Black Holes as Giants ⚡ экспресс
Astronomers have drawn parallels between LRDs and the historic eruption of Eta Carinae, as well as Type IIn supernovae. They propose that the central engine of an LRD is surrounded by a dense gas shell (slow wind) that is opaque and forms a pseudo-photosphere—we only see its thermal glow. Fast ejecta colliding with the shell produce shock waves and characteristic spectral lines. This explains the puzzling high masses of black holes and points to supermassive stars or intermediate-mass black holes as the energy sources. Over time, the shell dissipates, and LRDs may evolve into ordinary active galactic nuclei.
A powerful searchlight in thick fog is invisible — we only notice a huge glowing cloud. Fog scatters light and makes it redder. Similarly, cosmic gas around black holes hides their true size. The Webb telescope detected red dots that seemed to be galactic cores with supermassive black holes. A new perspective says: they are gas cocoons inflated by radiation from objects thousands of times lighter.
If the guess is correct, then many 'giants' of the early Universe are actually infant black holes. Over time, the gas will disperse, revealing either a black hole or a supermassive star. In the process, cosmic dust will be born — raw material for new stars, as in supernova explosions of type IIn. The spectral lines of these dots are blurred, like in a smeared photograph — the gas motion betrays the true picture. Thus, from the fog, future masters of galaxies are born.
🎯 In 1843, the star Eta Carinae became the second brightest in the sky, even though it was 7,500 light-years away. Its light was amplified by a gas shell — just like the 'baby' black holes we see in the red dots.