Researchers gazing into the vastness of space have discovered an intriguing supermassive black hole that has left astronomers scratching their heads.
The wondrous find is both the oldest and most distant black hole ever observed and is an astounding 800 million times the mass of our sun.
The point at which scientists observed the black hole in its development is quite remarkable as it achieved this incredible size in a mere 690 million years after the Big Bang occurred.
That has proven to somewhat paradoxical for astronomers, since they cannot fathom how the black hole managed to grow to such an enormous size in what is a relatively short amount of time.
"This thing shouldn't exist," marveled one researcher who worked on the study, "the universe was just not old enough to make a black hole that big. It's very puzzling."
As such, astronomers say that they will have to reconsider theories surrounding the conditions present in the universe following the Big Bang in order to allow for the black hole being formed.
Source: USA Today
