The Webb Space Telescope confirms the first runaway black hole, which broke away from its home galaxy to harbor fast-moving life. A black hole is one of the fastest moving objects observed in the universe, traveling at 2.2 million miles per hour (1,000 kilometers per second). At that speed, it could travel from Earth to the Moon in 14 minutes, according to NASA.
Astronomers first observed a bright streak of glowing gas using the Hubble Space Telescope in 2023, and follow-up observations with Webb confirmed it as a trail left by a runaway black hole. The finding is detailed in a new study available on the pre-print server arXiv.
running away
As it travels through space, the escaped black hole is falling into the gas ahead of it to create a giant bow shock. As the gas heats up at the speed of the black hole, it triggers the birth of new stars. According to the study, the trail of newborn stars extends 200,000 light years behind the black hole.
Black holes are typically located at the centers of their home galaxies. However, it was found to be approximately 230,000 light years away from its galaxy. It must be moving fast enough to escape its host’s gravitational grip.
So, how did the black hole make the race for it? The astronomers behind the new study believe it could be the result of two galaxies merging together, which provided a strong kick that propelled the black hole into the universe. Another possible scenario is that one of the two galaxies that merged together contained a pair of binary black holes. When three black holes merge, the system becomes unstable, forcing one of them to escape into space.
“It confuses the mind!” Peter van Dokkum, a Yale University researcher and lead author of the new study, told Space.com. “The forces required to tear such a massive black hole from its home are enormous. And yet, it was predicted that such escapes should occur!”
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