Astronomers Find Little Red Dots About to Merge

These panels show four of the JWST's Little Red Dots (LRD). Over 300 have been found, and they seem to exist between about 600 million and 1.6 billion years after the Big Bang. Are they the precursors to supermassive black holes? Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, D. Kocevski (Colby College)

Prior to its launch, astronomers were uncertain what the powerful JWST would find in the ancient, early Universe. One of its surprising findings was Little Red Dots, unexplained ancient objects. They're widely considered to be connected to the growth of SMBHs in the Universe. New research suggests that we may be seeing some LRDs before they merge, on their way to becoming SMBH.

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