Astronomers have spotted a black hole that dates back to just 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang, which is gobbling up matter at an astonishing rate. According to their calculations, the black hole dubbed LID-568 is consuming matter at a whopping 40 times the theoretical limit.

Black holes are fascinating objects. They're unimaginably dense: If Earth was (hypothetically) crushed into a black hole, it would be under an inch across. This profound density gives black holes phenomenal gravitational power. Famously, even light that falls in (meaning passing a boundary called the "event horizon") cannot escape.

Supermassive black holes exist at the center of most galaxies, and modern telescopes continue to observe them at surprisingly early times in the universe's evolution.

Understanding how these black holes managed to grow so rapidly in the early universe has posed significant challenges.

The discovery of the supermassive black, thought to be within 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang, gives astronomers new insights into how black holes might have grown so rapidly in the early Universe.

With the advent of the Webb Space Telescope, the problem has pushed up against theoretical limits. The matter falling into a black hole generates radiation, with faster feeding meaning more radiation.

Scientists have discovered the hungriest black hole in the early universe. The low-mass supermassive black hole – named LID-568 – appears to be consuming matter at over 40 times the theoretical limit.