Hyderabad-born astronomer Rohan P. Naidu is the lead author of a new study published in Nature that examines a mysterious object in the early universe that could be a previously unknown type of astrophysical source. The object, named MoM-BH-1, appears to combine a massive black hole with an enormous envelope of gas resembling a star.
The proposed “black hole star” could provide new clues about the origin and rapid growth of massive black holes in the early universe. The discovery may also help explain the nature of the “Little Red Dots” that have appeared in JWST observations. These objects have puzzled astronomers because of their unusual colours, brightness and spectral characteristics.
What Is The ‘Black Hole Star’?
MoM-BH-1 is an extremely bright red object that existed just 660 million years after the Big Bang. Although it resembles a massive star, researchers say its extraordinary brightness cannot be explained by a conventional star.
Rohan Naidu and his colleagues believe the object could contain a central black hole around 100,000 times the mass of the Sun. The black hole may be surrounded by a dense, extended envelope of hydrogen that is roughly the size of the Solar System. Naidu described the emerging picture of the object as one that is changing rapidly as researchers continue analysing the data. The object was identified during the “Mirage or Miracle” (MoM) survey, which was designed to study some of the earliest galaxies in the universe.
How Was MoM-BH-1 Discovered?
Naidu and his team were searching JWST observations for extremely distant galaxies when they noticed an unusually bright and red source. The object stood out because its light was exceptionally bright at certain wavelengths but was undetected at others. Researchers also found very little evidence of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. Further analysis led the team to conclude that a black hole surrounded by a dense, star-like envelope of gas was the most likely explanation.
The researchers named the object MoM-BH-1 after the survey that detected it, with “BH” referring to the proposed black hole at its centre. They stress, however, that their understanding of MoM-BH-1 is still developing. Further observations will be needed to determine whether it truly represents a new class of astrophysical object and to confirm the structure of the proposed black-hole–star system. Naidu’s team has described the finding as an example of how JWST observations are revealing unexpected objects from the universe’s earliest stages.
Who Is Rohan Naidu?
Rohan P. Naidu is an astronomer whose research focuses on the earliest galaxies, stars and black holes formed after the Big Bang. He is a NASA Hubble Fellow from 2022 to 2025 and a Pappalardo Fellow in Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 2025 to 2027. He is also an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaiʻi.
Naidu was born in Hyderabad, India. He left engineering school at 18 and later joined the founding class of Yale-NUS College in Singapore. He went on to earn a PhD in astronomy from Harvard University in May 2022. His research makes extensive use of the James Webb Space Telescope, through which astronomers have identified several unusual objects in the early universe.
Also Read: What Is A Black Hole Star? James Webb Telescope Spots Mysterious Red Cosmic Object
