Astronomers have identified what may be a new type of cosmic object, described as a “black hole star,” according to The Times of India. The discovery, reported on August 14, 2026, points to a supermassive black hole embedded in a structure from the early universe.
The finding builds on separate work published in Nature, which detailed a gas-enshrouded and gas-reddened black hole at cosmic dawn. That study, along with coverage from MIT News and The Guardian, describes a candidate object that does not fit neatly into existing categories of stars or black holes.
The Times of India reports that the object appears to combine characteristics of both a black hole and a star, a combination not previously observed. The term “black hole star” has been used by researchers to describe the candidate, though it remains a possible classification rather than a confirmed one.
According to MIT News, astronomers have called this a brand-new type of astrophysical object. The Guardian similarly notes that the discovery represents a new kind of cosmic object. The early universe context is significant because it suggests such formations may have existed when the cosmos was much younger and denser than it is today.
The Economist also covered the broader implications, asking how the universe got its spots, a reference to the distribution of such objects across the sky. The exact nature of the black hole star, including how it formed and what it can tell scientists about the early universe, is still under investigation.
What to watch next: follow-up observations from telescopes could confirm whether this object is truly a new class, and whether more black hole stars exist from the same era.
