Stellar Cannibalism May Explain Early Universe's Red Dots

The James Webb Space Telescope's discovery of mysterious 'little red dots' (LRDs) in the early universe may be explained by a process of stellar cannibalism, according to new research from UCLA. These compact, reddish objects could be dense star clusters where frequent collisions created monster stars that later collapsed into massive black holes.

The Mystery of the Red Dots

Since 2022, JWST has spotted numerous tiny, compact, reddish objects in the distant cosmos, dubbed 'little red dots' Source: Gizmodo. Their nature has been debated, as some show signs of growing black holes but lack typical features of active galactic nuclei Source: Gizmodo. The new study proposes these LRDs are actually extremely dense star clusters from the early universe Source: ABC.

Stellar Collisions as a Growth Mechanism

In the early universe, star clusters were so dense that stellar collisions were common, unlike today Source: ABC. A UCLA-led team, including Claire E. Williams and Smadar Naoz, developed a model showing that in these environments:

• Stars could collide and merge repeatedly, growing into 'monster stars' with masses equivalent to entire clusters Source: ABC.
• These massive stars would eventually collapse directly into intermediate-mass black holes Source: Gizmodo.
• Once a black hole formed, its gravity could accelerate nearby stars, causing even more violent collisions that release gas, potentially feeding the black hole Source: Gizmodo.

Connecting to Supermassive Black Holes

This process offers a pathway to explain how supermassive black holes, which today reside at the centers of galaxies, could have formed so quickly after the Big Bang Source: ABC. The research is currently available on the preprint server arXiv Source: Gizmodo, ABC.