Artist’s impression of a black hole star (not to scale). de Graaff/Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (CC BY-NC-ND)Astronomers may be one step closer to unlocking the missing link in supermassive black hole evolution after finding mysterious tiny red objects may in fact be an entirely new class of celestial objects – ‘black hole stars’. Taken with the object’s spectral qualities, the authors propose The Cliff would be best explained by a supermassive black hole surrounded by a ball of hydrogen gas. “These black hole stars might be the first phase of formation for the black holes that we see in galaxies today – supermassive black holes in their little infancy stage,” says Leja. The team plan to test the density of gas of these novel black hole stars in hopes of finding a clearer answer.