Hai-Cheng Feng

Light from a distant lantern reflects off the surrounding fog, and from the delay of the reflection you can infer the distance. If the fog is uneven, the reflection arrives earlier or later, and the distance comes out wrong.

Imagine a spotlight: if you look at it from the side, it glows dim red, but if you stare straight into it, it blinds you with white-blue light. That, according to new data, is exactly what the mysterious 'little red dots' in the early universe look like. They are giant black holes, objects with gravity so strong that even light cannot escape, turned edge-on to us.