Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have discovered a black hole growing at one of the fastest rates ever observed — offering new clues about how the universe’s earliest giants formed.
NASA’s @chandraxray just spotted a black hole growing way faster than expected, at 2.4 times the normal limit. 🕳️
Located 12.8 billion light-years away, it’s helping scientists rethink how early black holes formed >> https://t.co/Vg2cci9wN7 pic.twitter.com/eEFoAqCGV3
— NASA Marshall (@NASA_Marshall) September 19, 2025
The black hole, located 12.8 billion light-years away, powers a quasar known as RACS J0320-35 and weighs about a billion times more than the Sun. Seen as it was just 920 million years after the Big Bang, it emits more X-rays than any other black hole known from that era.
“It was shocking to see this black hole growing by leaps and bounds,” said Luca Ighina of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, who led the study.
Data show it’s expanding at over twice the expected limit, suggesting it’s accumulating mass far faster than typical black holes. Scientists believe it could be growing by hundreds to thousands of solar masses each year.
Researchers also detected powerful jets of particles — a rare feature for quasars — hinting that the rapid growth may be linked to these energetic outflows.
“This discovery gives us a rare glimpse into how the first generation of black holes came to be,” said co-author Thomas Connor.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program, while the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory operates its science mission from Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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