Artist’s impression of a black hole star (not to scale). Mysterious tiny pinpoints of light discovered at the dawn of the universe may be giant spheres of hot gas that are so dense they look like the atmospheres of typical nuclear fusion-powered stars; however, instead of fusion, they are powered by supermassive black holes in their center that rapidly pull in matter, converting it into energy and giving off light. (Credit: T. Müller/A. de Graaff/Max Planck Institute for Astronomy) ============================================================================ Object nicknamed ‘The Cliff’ leads astronomers to rewrite cosmic rules In A Nutshell * “The Cliff,” a compact red object...