The oldest black hole ever was discovered to be so big that it defies explanation. This active supermassive black hole boasts a mass of 1.6 billion suns. It lies at the heart of the galaxy more than 13 billion light-years away from Earth. The black hole, also a quasar, dubbed J0313-1806, dates back to when the universe was “just” 670 million years old, or about 5 percent of its current age. This makes it two times heavier and 20 million years older than the last record holder for the earliest known black hole.
The Oldest Supermassive Black Hole
Finding this supermassive black hole so early in the history of the universe challenges the astronomers’ understanding of how these beasts were initially formed. Supermassive black holes are thought to grow from “smaller seed” black holes that gobble up the matter. However, Feige Wang, who is an astronomer of the University of Arizona, and colleagues, calculated that even if J0313-1806’s seed formed right after the first stars in the universe and grew as quickly as possible, it would have needed a starting mass of at least ten thousand suns. The normal way seed black holes form can only make black holes up to a few thousand times as big as the Sun.
Scientists Plan Future Studies
Xiaonhui Fan, who is also an astronomer at the University of Arizona in Tucson, shares that a gargantuan seed black hole may have formed through the direct collapse of a huge amount of primordial hydrogen gas. This, or perhaps the J0313-1806’s seed started small and then formed through the stellar collapse. Black holes can grow a lot faster than scientists thought. Fan says that both possibilities exist but nothing is yet proven. Scientists have to look much earlier in the universe and look for much less massive black holes to see how these things grow.
The J0313-1860 is officially the oldest black hole known to humankind. Is it the oldest one that exists? Only the future can tell.
After Quibi Died, Its Content Rights May Be Going to Roku
After the short-form streaming site Quibi was dissolved last December, there were questions about the fate of the shows on its content library. With some of them being very good, they still have significant value, and selling the Quibi content catalog now looks almost certain. Currently, the streaming app and hardware manufacturer Roku is in advanced discussions with the former streaming site for a possible deal.
The Acquisition of Quibi Gives Roku a Slate of Original Programming to Offer Its Buyers
Roku is a company known for its devices that give users access to streaming and their own content libraries. After the Quibi acquisition is complete, the Roku Channel will add to its library shows from some of the industry’s biggest entertainers by bringing Quibi’s entertainment to its viewers. While Roku doesn’t own or produce content and has stated openly that it has no plans to do so, the acquisition would give it original programming that buyers could view as a potential benefit to purchasing its hardware.
Roku Acquires Quibi After Its Failure to Compete On the Streaming Landscape
After launching with great vigor and high-profile people like Kevin Hart, Liam Hemsworth, and Kristen Bell, Quibi failed to create buzz and was shut down after six months. The company was headed by HP’s ex-CEO Meg Whitman and its founder was no other than the former Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg. The campaign, even before the launch, managed to raise $2 billion. Despite all the successful advertising, the new platform failed, and its shows became unavailable to fans.
While there is no word on a potential selling price just yet, the acquisition deal is certainly nearing finalization and could offer interested viewers the opportunity to browse through Quibi’s library. Of course, there is also the possibility that the deal could fall through at the last moment, but that seems unlikely. Especially, when according to a Roku blog page, users would get to see the Quibi content after it gets launched later this year.