Astronomers may have found a new kind of cosmic object: "black hole stars"

Since the James Webb Space Telescope began observing in 2022, astronomers have puzzled over compact objects nicknamed little red dots, and Smithsonian Magazine reports that a new study offers a striking explanation: they may be enormous black holes wrapped in dense hydrogen gas, with some characteristics of stars.

According to the reporting, these proposed objects, sometimes described as black hole stars, would represent a kind of celestial body not seen before. If confirmed, the idea could change how scientists read the early universe, where the little red dots appear far more often than expected.

Researchers quoted in the coverage caution that the proposal is still a hypothesis. What to watch is whether follow-up observations and further modeling support the picture, or point back toward more familiar explanations for the dots.