In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the James Webb Space Telescope have spotted the most distant and oldest black hole ever seen, offering new insights into the formation of these celestial phenomena. Located at the center of the UHZ1 galaxy, approximately 13.2 billion light-years away from Earth, this black hole was formed a mere 470 million years after the Big Bang, making it the oldest ever discovered.

The images captured by NASA provide an unprecedented view of the black hole at a stage of growth that has never been observed before. Due to its tremendous distance from Earth, these images effectively offer a glimpse into the past, when the universe was only 3% of its current age. Furthermore, the newly discovered black hole is estimated to have a mass between 10 million and 100 million times that of our Sun, making it a colossal structure.

Scientists believe that this extraordinary black hole provides crucial evidence for the formation of "outsize black holes." According to Priyamvada Natarajan, a researcher from Yale University and co-author of the study, this is "the first detection of an 'Outsize Black Hole' and the best evidence yet obtained that some black holes form from massive clouds of gas." The black hole's massive size and age offer clues as to how these "outsize black holes" are created.

The prevailing theories regarding black hole formation suggest that they are either formed through the explosion of a star in a supernova event or through the collapse of massive galactic gas clouds. The discovery of the UHZ1 black hole strongly supports the latter theory, providing physical limits on the rapid growth of black holes once they are formed. Astronomers liken this process to planting a sapling, where a head start in size allows for faster growth into a full-size tree.

The brightness and energy emitted by the X-rays from the UHZ1 black hole indicate that it was born massive, according to the Chandra X-ray Observatory. This finding confirms the existence of supermassive black holes in the early stages of the universe, validating previous theories. With an estimated age of 13.2 billion years, this black hole's discovery further supports the notion that supermassive black holes have existed since the dawn of the universe.

The black hole in the UHZ1 galaxy dwarfs the one in our own Milky Way, measuring approximately 10 times larger. Black holes are areas in space where an enormous amount of mass is compressed into an incredibly small volume, resulting in an intense gravitational pull that not even light can escape.

This groundbreaking discovery has significant implications for understanding the rapid growth of supermassive black holes shortly after the Big Bang. Scientists are now posed with the question of whether these black holes form directly from the collapse of massive gas clouds, resulting in their massive size, or if they are the result of explosions from the first stars that create black holes with much smaller masses.

The research team, which includes co-author Andy Goulding from Princeton University, used a combination of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory to detect and study the UHZ1 black hole. The findings from this study shed light on the formation and growth of these enigmatic cosmic entities and deepen our understanding of the early universe.