Astronomers have discovered an extraordinary object in the early universe that may represent a completely new type of cosmic phenomenon. Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), researchers from MIT and other institutions have identified an incredibly bright red object that appears to have the size and appearance of a giant star—but produces an astonishing amount of energy.
The object is so powerful that it shines about 100 billion times brighter than an ordinary star could produce through nuclear fusion. Yet its light also carries unusual features that make it look remarkably different from known galaxies, stars or black holes.
The researchers believe they may have found something never observed before: a “black hole star.”
A Star-Like Object With a Black Hole at Its Heart
The newly identified object, officially named MoM-BH-1*, was detected when astronomers were studying the universe as it existed only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang.
At first glance, it looked like a small, intensely red point of light. But detailed analysis revealed something unusual. The object appears to be surrounded by an enormous cloud of extremely dense hydrogen gas, forming an envelope that is roughly the size of our entire solar system.
At the center of this giant structure could be a black hole with a mass approximately 100,000 times greater than the Sun.
Lead researcher Rohan Naidu of MIT says the object may consist of a central black hole surrounded by a huge, extended envelope of gas that looks like a star on an enormous scale.
This combination could explain why the object looks partly like a star while producing energy on a scale normally associated with a rapidly feeding black hole.
The Mystery of the Little Red Dots
The discovery could also help astronomers solve one of the biggest mysteries created by the James Webb Space Telescope.
Since JWST began observing the distant universe, astronomers have repeatedly found mysterious objects known as “little red dots.” These objects appear extremely red and bright, and they are surprisingly common in observations of the early universe.
Yet scientists still do not fully understand what they are.
One reason the new discovery is important is that MoM-BH*-1 may provide a possible explanation for at least some of these mysterious objects.
According to the researchers, many little red dots could be black holes surrounded by dense clouds of gas. However, MoM-BH*-1 appears to be unusual because its black hole star is so bright that it completely overwhelms the light from the galaxy around it.
In other words, astronomers may be seeing the black hole star itself rather than simply detecting it as part of a larger galaxy.
A Red Dot With a Strange Signature
The object first attracted attention because it was exceptionally red.
Astronomers often associate very red objects with dust. Dust can absorb and scatter certain wavelengths of light, making distant astronomical objects appear redder.
But the researchers discovered that dust alone could not explain what they were seeing.
The object's light showed an unusually deep “Balmer break.” This is a sharp reduction in light at particular wavelengths and is generally associated with dense gas absorbing certain types of radiation.
The feature was far stronger than what astronomers normally observe in ordinary stars.
The object also appeared to contain almost no elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. That was another major clue.
The combination of extreme brightness, a powerful Balmer break and an apparent lack of heavier elements made MoM-BH*-1 unlike ordinary stars or familiar galaxies.
Why a Normal Star Cannot Explain It
Stars generate their energy through nuclear fusion. Inside a star, enormous pressure and temperature allow hydrogen atoms to combine and release energy.
But there is a physical limit to how much energy a normal star can produce.
MoM-BH*-1 appears to be far beyond that limit.
The researchers estimate that the object is roughly 100 billion times brighter than the Sun. Even an extremely massive star could not easily generate such an enormous amount of energy through normal fusion.
That forced the scientists to consider another possibility.
Black holes can release tremendous amounts of energy when they pull in surrounding matter. As gas falls toward a black hole, it can become extremely hot and radiate enormous amounts of light before disappearing beyond the black hole's event horizon.
This process is known as accretion, and it can make black holes among the brightest objects in the universe.
The researchers therefore wondered whether the strange red object could combine the appearance of a star with the energy source of a black hole.
How a “Black Hole Star” Could Work
The team's computer simulations tested different possibilities.
The best explanation was a structure consisting of a huge, extremely dense envelope of hydrogen surrounding an actively feeding black hole.
The dense hydrogen cloud could make the object appear star-like. It could also absorb certain wavelengths of light, producing the unusual Balmer break observed by JWST.
Meanwhile, the black hole at the center could provide the enormous amount of energy required to explain the object's brightness.
The simulations suggest that the central black hole could be about 100,000 times the mass of the Sun, while the surrounding gas envelope could extend across a region roughly comparable to the size of the solar system.
This would make the object vastly different from any normal star.
Rather than being powered primarily by nuclear fusion, its brightness would come from the black hole consuming surrounding matter.
A Possible New Chapter in Black Hole Formation
The discovery could have implications far beyond one strange object.
One of the major questions in modern astronomy is how the first supermassive black holes formed so quickly in the early universe.
Astronomers have observed enormous black holes existing when the universe was still very young. But explaining how these black holes grew to such huge sizes in such a short period has been difficult.
Black hole stars could potentially provide part of the answer.
If enormous clouds of gas formed around rapidly growing black holes in the early universe, these structures might have allowed black holes to grow extremely quickly. Over time, the surrounding gas could disappear, leaving behind a much larger black hole inside a galaxy.
This idea could help connect the mysterious objects seen by JWST with the supermassive black holes found in galaxies today.
JWST Opens a New Window on the Early Universe
The discovery also demonstrates the extraordinary power of the James Webb Space Telescope.
JWST was designed to observe some of the earliest stars and galaxies in cosmic history. Its ability to detect faint infrared light allows astronomers to study objects whose light has traveled across the universe for more than 13 billion years.
MoM-BH*-1 shows that the early universe may contain objects that scientists did not previously know how to recognize.
The researchers caution that the black hole star interpretation still needs further testing. Astronomers will need additional observations to determine whether the object truly has the proposed structure and whether similar objects exist elsewhere.
If future observations confirm the idea, however, MoM-BH*-1 could become the first member of an entirely new class of astrophysical objects.
A Cosmic Mystery Just Beginning
The discovery of the possible black hole star is a reminder that the early universe was far more complicated and surprising than scientists once imagined.
MoM-BH*-1 looks like a star, shines with the extraordinary power of a black hole and may contain a vast envelope of hydrogen surrounding an enormous central black hole.
More importantly, it could explain why mysterious little red dots appear so frequently in JWST observations.
For now, astronomers are calling it a “black hole star.” Whether that name ultimately becomes part of standard astronomy will depend on future observations.
But one thing is already clear: the James Webb Space Telescope has once again revealed that the universe still holds objects that challenge our understanding of how stars, galaxies and black holes are born.
Reference: Naidu, R.P., Matthee, J., Katz, H. et al. A gas-enshrouded and gas-reddened black hole at cosmic dawn. Nature 656, 329–333 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10846-4
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