https://www.inverse.com/science/hot-den ... le-problem
A MYSTERIOUS KIND OF BLACK HOLE COULD SOLVE A MASSIVE COSMOLOGICAL PROBLEM
We know that many supermassive black holes formed early in the universe. For example, the quasar TON 618 is powered by a 66 billion solar mass black hole. Since its light travels nearly 11 billion years to reach us, TON 618 was already huge when the universe was just a few billion years old.
The truth is that they don’t *know* this. They infer it based on BELIEF in a bunch of gnomes.
So how did these black holes grow so massive so quickly?
Yes, a good question. Then the article mentions two ideas. The first they admit “can’t produce the kind of black holes we see in the early universe”. The second is a gnome that they claim could be detected through a particular “radio signature.” But …
Unfortunately, these high-redshift radio sources can’t be seen by current radio telescopes. But they should be bright enough to be detected by the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) and the proposed next-generation Very Large Array (ngVLA).
I knew it! I knew it! I just knew they were going to put their hands out and demand more money … lots more money so they can detect this gnome’s *signature*. How much? Well the SKA, which is now under construction (with observations beginning no earlier than 2027) had a projected cost of 1.8 billion euros in 2014! Hardly peanuts. And the cost of the ngVLA they want to build? Their FAQ (
https://ngvla.nrao.edu/page/faq) says the current estimate is $1.9 billion 2018 dollars, $2.25 billion risk adjusted, with an operating cost of nearly $100 million a year. That’s some serious cash … just to learn something that probably won't affect/improve the world one iota (other than buy more houses, cars, vacations, etc for these gnome believers). Just saying.