Astronomy: A direct black-hole mass measurement in a little red dot at high redshift (Nature)

A direct measurement of a black hole mass in a distant object known as a little red dot, found in a galaxy dating back to when the Universe was just 700 million years old, is reported in Nature. The findings indicate that some black holes may form and grow before the stars in their host galaxies, providing insight into the earliest stages of black hole evolution.

Astronomers have been debating the identity of a collection of little red dots, detected during early experiments using the James Webb Space Telescope. Previous research has suggested that the little red dots are supermassive black holes, but models may have overestimated the mass of those black holes.

Ignas Juodžbalis and colleagues analysed Abell2744-QSO1, a celestial object detected by the James Webb Space Telescope and classified as a little red dot hosting a black hole. Observations reveal how fast gas rotates at different distances from the black hole, offering information about the amount of gravitational acceleration, which enables the authors to estimate that the black hole hosted by the little red dot has a mass of 50 million solar masses. The host galaxy contains very little stellar mass — less than half the mass of the black hole — suggesting that this black hole is at an early stage of formation and may have begun forming before its host galaxy.

The findings provide some of the first direct measurements of a black hole’s mass at such an early stage in the Universe. The authors note that further work is needed to refine the model and analysis.

• Article
• Open access
• Published: 27 May 2026

Juodžbalis, I., Marconcini, C., D’Eugenio, F. et al. A direct black-hole mass measurement in a little red dot at high redshift. Nature 653, 1017–1021 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10579-4

© 2026 Springer Nature Limited. All Rights Reserved.   

More Press Releases