A 'Cosmic Miracle': Indications Of Early Forming 'Direct Collapse' Black Hole Seen

Astronomers have been finding some extremely old supermassive black holes, ones that formed when the Universe was quite young. But they were puzzled at how a black hole could grow to such tremendous size when the Universe itself was just a toddler. Astronomers have now found a unique set of conditions were present half a billion years after the Big Bang that allowed these monster black holes to form. An unusual source of intense radiation created what are called "direct-collapse black holes." "I...