Unlocking the Mystery of X-ray Dots
A new “X-ray dot” discovered by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory – which may resemble this artist’s illustration published on April 28, 2026 – could explain what the hundreds, and potentially thousands, of these objects are.
Shortly after NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope began its scientific observations, reports of a new class of mysterious objects emerged. Astronomers have discovered small red objects about 12 billion light years from Earth or more, known as “little red dots” (LRD). The spot Chandra found has most of the characteristics of an LRD, including the fact that it is small, red and located at a great distance, but it glows under X-ray light, unlike other LRDs – hence the name “X-ray spot.”
This object (officially known as 3DHST-AEGIS-12014), located about 11.8 billion light-years from Earth, could provide a crucial bridge between black hole stars and typical growing supermassive black holes.
Learn more about this mysterious point.
Image credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/M. Weiss; adapted by K. Arcand & J. Major
