Rohan Naidu

“the [Balmer] break we observed in this object is the deepest break we have ever observed in any object, ruling out 'ordinary' stars as the source,”

Rohan Naidu · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20

Spectroscopic observations of the cosmic object ruled out ordinary stars as its light source.

“truly singular in so many ways,”

Rohan Naidu · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20

Astronomers discovered a potential black hole star candidate in the early universe.

“outshining its surrounding host galaxy, such that we're seeing pure black hole star light,”

Rohan Naidu · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20

Researchers proposed that the bright object may outshine an underlying host galaxy.

“Our picture of this object is evolving very rapidly,”

Rohan Naidu · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20

Astronomers discovered a potential black hole star candidate in the early universe.

“We think there is a central black hole that is 100,000 times as massive as the sun. And around this black hole, there would be this very extended envelope of gas that looks like a star the size of the solar system. It's huge.”

Rohan Naidu · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-16

Naidu explains the proposed structure of the black hole star, with a central black hole surrounded by a vast gas envelope.

“What exactly these objects are has been one of the most debated topics of the JWST era.”

Rohan Naidu · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-16

Naidu notes the identity of the little red dots is a heavily debated question in the JWST era.

“What we found was that what looks like an extremely bright early galaxy, also known as a 'miracle,' in some cases actually could be a 'mirage.'”

Rohan Naidu · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-16

Naidu explains the survey's finding that apparent early bright galaxies may be 'mirages.'

“There's been this puzzle of many bright galaxies showing up at extremely early times,”

Rohan Naidu · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-16

Naidu describes the puzzle motivating the 'Mirage or Miracle' survey of early bright galaxies.

“These little red dots seem to be everywhere in the early universe but essentially disappear by the present day,”

Rohan Naidu · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-16

Naidu discusses the mysterious 'little red dots' seen throughout JWST deep-space images.

“Every little red dot is consistent with being a black hole star, embedded in a generic early galaxy,”

Rohan Naidu · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-16

Naidu says all little red dots are consistent with being black hole stars in early galaxies.

“That means you can't be powering this by nuclear fusion, which is the energy source that sits at the heart of all the stars we have.”

Rohan Naidu · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-16

Naidu rules out nuclear fusion as the object's power source.

“But what is special about MoM-BH*-1 is, the black hole star is essentially completely outshining its surrounding host galaxy, such that we're seeing pure black hole star light.”

Rohan Naidu · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-16

Naidu explains what makes MoM-BH*-1 distinctive among the little red dots.

“But it made us wonder if we were seeing a new kind of 'stellar atmosphere,' but on a spectacular scale.”

Rohan Naidu · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-16

Naidu suggests the observation hinted at a new kind of stellar atmosphere on a huge scale.

“It was truly singular in so many ways,”

Rohan Naidu · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-16

Naidu comments on the object's light lacking signatures of metals beyond hydrogen and helium.

“Our picture of this object is evolving very rapidly,”

Rohan Naidu · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-16

Naidu describes the rapidly evolving understanding of the newly discovered red object.

“You have something that looks a bit like a star but is 100 billion times brighter,”

Rohan Naidu · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-16

Naidu explains why the object's brightness cannot come from a normal star.

“The break we observed in this object is the deepest break we have ever observed in any object, ruling out 'ordinary' stars as the source,”

Rohan Naidu · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-16

Naidu describes the unusually deep Balmer break observed in the red dot's spectrum.