The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has caught a glimpse of something extraordinary: evidence of massive stars that existed shortly after the Big Bang. These colossal stars, known as “monster stars,” could have been up to 10,000 times larger than our Sun.
Like dinosaurs on Earth, these stars are long gone, but they left behind “cosmic fossils”—the black holes we observe today. Understanding these stars is crucial. It might explain how supermassive black holes formed when the universe was less than a billion years old.
Recently, astronomers studied a galaxy named GS 3073, located about 12.7 billion light-years away. They found a surprising nitrogen-to-oxygen ratio that can’t be produced by any known star. This indicates the presence of primordial stars, supporting the theory of these ancient giants.
Daniel Whalen, an astrophysicist from the University of Portsmouth, stated, “Our latest discovery helps solve a 20-year cosmic mystery. With GS 3073, we have the first observational evidence that these monster stars existed.” He compared them to dinosaurs—huge and primitive, they had very short lifespans of only a few hundred thousand years. This is a blink of an eye in cosmic terms.
Devesh Nandal, from the Center for Astrophysics (CfA) at Harvard and Smithsonian, emphasized that the chemical fingerprints found in GS 3073 are unique. The elevated nitrogen levels can only be explained by stars much larger than those we see today. This oxygen and nitrogen enrichment from massive stars shaped early galaxies and likely seeded today’s supermassive black holes.
The stars in question burned helium to make carbon. This carbon combined with hydrogen to create nitrogen, enriching the surrounding space when the stars died. Researchers think these enormous stars didn’t go out with a bang but instead collapsed directly into black holes. This helps explain why some black holes in the universe are so massive early on.
Interestingly, a supermassive black hole at the center of GS 3073 may be the result of mergers between black holes that originated from these monster stars. The search is on for more early galaxies like GS 3073 to strengthen this fascinating theory.
In November, the research detailing these findings was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Discoveries like this not only expand our understanding of the universe but also connect the intricate web of cosmic events that shaped the stars and galaxies we see today.
