“Little red dot” in early Universe is a naked supermassive black hole

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has opened a window to the nascent stages of the Universe, revealing the extraordinary conditions that prevailed when the first stars began to illuminate the cosmos. Among the many discoveries made, one of the most astonishing has been the identification of what are informally termed "little red dots." These celestial objects represent early iterations of supermassive black holes, which are now known to exist at the centers of nearly every galaxy. Recent advancements in gravitational lensing techniques have provided astronomers with clearer insights into these intriguing formations. One notable example, designated Abell 2744−QSO1, has emerged as a striking case. Gravitational lensing has not only enhanced the visibility of this distant object but also created multiple images of it, appearing three times within the galaxy cluster responsible for this phenomenon. What makes Abell 2744−QSO1 particularly fascinating is that it allows scientists to observe the black hole as it was just 700 million years after the Big Bang. While this object has been known for a few years and has undergone extensive analysis, new research highlights the differences in its lensed images, suggesting fluctuations in its emissions. This variation is attributed to the different paths taken by the light, indicating that the black hole has been consuming varying amounts of material over time. Additionally, estimates of its luminosity indicate that this black hole is remarkably massive, weighing in at over 10 million times the mass of our Sun, an impressive figure for such an early epoch in the Universe's history.