Black hole star MoM-BH*-1 discovered

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have discovered a new type of astrophysical object called a 'black hole star', named MoM-BH*-1. The object, which dates from about 660 million years after the Big Bang, appears as a star roughly the size of the solar system but emits about 100 billion times more energy than any known star. Analysis of its spectrum revealed a strong Balmer break and no dust signature, indicating that its red color is due to a dense envelope of hydrogen gas rather than dust. Computer simulations suggest the object is powered by a central black hole about 100,000 times the mass of the Sun, surrounded by a thick gas cocoon that makes it resemble a star. The discovery, published in Nature, may help explain the mysterious 'little red dots' observed in the early universe, which could be black hole stars embedded in galaxies. The team, led by Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu of the University of Hawaiʻi and MIT, has secured additional JWST observation time to study these objects in detail. Separately, another team using JWST reported detecting dust and water around the star MoM-BH*-1 near the Milky Way's central black hole, Sagittarius A*, showing that stars can produce dust even in extreme environments.