Fog Passes Off Tiny Black Holes as Giants ⚡ экспресс
Recently, the James Webb Space Telescope discovered mysterious "little red dots" (LRDs)—bright compact objects in the distant universe. Scientists suggest they resemble an enormous star wrapped in a dense gas cocoon, like a light bulb in thick fog. This hides the central energy source but lets it shine with an unusual red light. What if these dots are future supermassive black holes in their infancy?
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.