{"id":14606,"date":"2025-06-01T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=14606"},"modified":"2025-05-23T07:22:45","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T07:22:45","slug":"james-webb-telescope-supermassive-black-hole-m83-galaxy-june-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/james-webb-telescope-supermassive-black-hole-m83-galaxy-june-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"James Webb Telescope Reveals Signs of Supermassive Black Hole in M83 Galaxy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-gray-200-background-color has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h1 id=\"at-a-glance\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">At a Glance<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have detected signs of a supermassive black hole in galaxy Messier 83 by observing highly ionized neon gas emissions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">The detection of this ionized gas suggests the presence of an active galactic nucleus requiring energy levels far beyond what stars or supernovae can produce.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Previously, any potential black hole in M83 was thought to be dormant or obscured by dust, but JWST&#8217;s infrared capabilities revealed the intense radiation likely caused by black hole activity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Researchers believe this discovery marks a breakthrough in understanding M83 and have ruled out most alternative explanations, such as shock waves or stellar processes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Follow-up studies using telescopes like ALMA and VLT are planned to confirm the black hole&#8217;s presence and explore M83\u2019s energetic processes in greater detail.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Astronomers using the <a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/webb\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)<\/a> have made a discovery in the nearby spiral galaxy <a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/hubble\/science\/explore-the-night-sky\/hubble-messier-catalog\/messier-83\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Messier 83 (M83)<\/a>, also known as the Southern Pinwheel galaxy. For decades, scientists have suspected the presence of a supermassive black hole at the center of M83, but it remained elusive. Now, thanks to Webb&#8217;s advanced <a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/webb\/mid-infrared-instrument-miri\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI)<\/a>, astronomers have detected highly ionized neon gas emissions that could be the signature of an active galactic nucleus (AGN)\u2014a growing black hole at the galaxy&#8217;s heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Pan of M83 (MIRI image)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Bblt8ScOJkU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The presence of highly ionized gas is a strong indicator of an AGN, which requires massive amounts of energy\u2014far more than can be produced by normal stars. Until now, it was believed that if a supermassive black hole existed in M83, it might be dormant or obscured by thick dust. However, JWST&#8217;s unprecedented sensitivity and resolution have allowed scientists to peer through this dust and detect the telltale signs of a black hole feeding on surrounding material, generating intense radiation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">This discovery is a significant milestone in studying M83, which has long puzzled astronomers. The team, led by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stsci.edu\/stsci-research\/research-directory\/svea-hernandez\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Svea Hernandez<\/a> at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=Space+Telescope+Science+Institute\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Space Telescope Science Institute<\/a>, reported their findings in <a href=\"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/1538-4357\/adba5d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>The Astrophysical Journal<\/em><\/a>. They explained that the energy needed to create the observed signatures of ionized neon is far greater than that produced by supernovae or other stellar events, making the presence of an AGN the most plausible explanation. While alternative scenarios are still being explored, including extreme shock waves in the galaxy&#8217;s interstellar medium, the evidence strongly suggests that an AGN might lurk at M83&#8217;s core.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img  decoding=\"async\"  src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABAQMAAAAl21bKAAAAA1BMVEUAAP+KeNJXAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAAAlwSFlzAAAOxAAADsQBlSsOGwAAAApJREFUCNdjYAAAAAIAAeIhvDMAAAAASUVORK5CYII=\"  alt=\"\"  class=\" pk-lazyload\"  data-pk-sizes=\"auto\"  data-pk-src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/a\/a0\/M83_Galaxy_from_the_Mount_Lemmon_SkyCenter_Schulman_Telescope_courtesy_Adam_Block.jpg\" ><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=45660934\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">M83 Galaxy from the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter Schulman Telescope courtesy Adam Block<\/a>&#8221; by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/User:Ngc1535\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ngc1535<\/a>\u00a0is licensed under\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/?ref=openverse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The researchers are planning follow-up studies to confirm the presence of a supermassive black hole in M83. Observations from other telescopes, such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.almaobservatory.org\/en\/home\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Atacama Large Millimeter\/submillimeter Array (ALMA)<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/teles-instr\/paranal-observatory\/vlt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Very Large Telescope (VLT)<\/a>, will help further investigate the nature of the gas and refine our understanding of M83\u2019s energetic processes. With JWST\u2019s capability to uncover hidden structures within galaxies, this discovery opens up new possibilities for studying black holes and advancing our knowledge of the universe\u2019s most mysterious phenomena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h1 id=\"references\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">References<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Hernandez, S., Smith, L. J., Jones, L. H., Togi, A., Mel\u00e9ndez, M. B., Abril-Melgarejo, V., Adamo, A., Alonso Herrero, A., D\u00edaz-Santos, T., Fischer, T. C., Garc\u00eda-Burillo, S., Hirschauer, A. S., Hunt, L. K., James, B., Lebouteiller, V., Long, K. S., Mingozzi, M., Ramambason, L., &amp; Ramos Almeida, C. (2025). Jwst\/miri detection of [ne v] and [ne vi ] in m83: Evidence for the long sought-after active galactic nucleus? <em>The Astrophysical Journal<\/em>, <em>983<\/em>(2), 154. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3847\/1538-4357\/adba5d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3847\/1538-4357\/adba5d<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">European Space Agency. (2025, April 24). <em>Webb spots clues of a black hole at the heart of nearby galaxy M83<\/em>. Phys.Org; European Space Agency. <a href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-04-webb-clues-black-hole-heart.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-04-webb-clues-black-hole-heart.html<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At a Glance Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have made a discovery in the nearby&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/50330680253_8fab12c685_h.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[10832,10834,10831,10833,10828,10827,10826,10823,10816,10817,10835,10824,10822,10820,10830,10821,10819,10818,10825,10829],"class_list":{"0":"post-14606","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-agn-vs-supernova-signatures","9":"tag-alma-vlt-m83-follow-up-observations","10":"tag-black-hole-detection-mid-infrared","11":"tag-black-hole-feeding-emission-m83","12":"tag-dusty-galaxy-core-jwst-analysis","13":"tag-galaxy-interstellar-medium-shock-waves","14":"tag-hidden-black-hole-m83-discovery","15":"tag-ionized-gas-agn-indicator","16":"tag-james-webb-telescope-m83-black-hole","17":"tag-jwst-agn-detection-m83","18":"tag-jwst-high-resolution-galaxy-imaging","19":"tag-jwst-miri-instrument-black-hole","20":"tag-jwst-reveals-obscured-black-hole","21":"tag-m83-active-galactic-nucleus","22":"tag-m83-galactic-core-radiation","23":"tag-messier-83-southern-pinwheel-galaxy","24":"tag-mid-infrared-neon-emissions-jwst","25":"tag-supermassive-black-hole-m83-galaxy","26":"tag-svea-hernandez-agn-study","27":"tag-the-astrophysical-journal-m83-findings","28":"cs-entry","29":"cs-video-wrap"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14606"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14608,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14606\/revisions\/14608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}