Wei-Min Gu

The globular cluster M22 is a dense swarm of hundreds of thousands of stars, hanging in our galaxy like a glowing beehive. In such a crowded environment, stars often collide and swap partners, but massive objects like black holes were thought to be quickly ejected by gravitational interactions.

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.