Core Insights - An international team of astronomers led by scientists from the University of Texas at Austin has discovered a supermassive black hole that existed just 500 million years after the Big Bang, with a mass equivalent to 300 million suns, setting a record for the oldest known black hole at 13.3 billion years old [1][2] Group 1 - The discovery was made using the James Webb Space Telescope, which captured spectral data from the galaxy CAPERS-LRD-z9, revealing its unique "little red dot" characteristics typical of galaxies formed in the early universe [1] - The supermassive black hole is identified as the source of the galaxy's unexpected brightness, and it is capable of generating immense light and energy by compressing and heating the material it consumes [1][2] Group 2 - The findings regarding the galaxy may help explain the bright red appearance of "little red dot" galaxies, potentially due to a thick gas cloud surrounding the black hole that distorts light into redder wavelengths [2] - The existence of such a massive black hole in the early universe provides valuable opportunities to study the evolutionary history of these celestial bodies, suggesting either an extraordinarily high "primitive weight" at birth or a growth rate significantly faster than current models predict [2]