James Webb Space Telescope detects most distant active supermassive black hole ever seen

We know that the early distribution of matter (and perhaps dark matter and dark energy) was uneven, hence galaxies and galaxy clusters. Where a galaxy was to form, the matter was thick; between them, it was pretty thin. Just as a star system with a star or stars with planets and all that, form from the collapse of the local cloud, it seems logical that at the center of a forming galaxy, it was thick with stuff, which would collapse and form huge stars, but then continued to gather stuff until it just formed a black hole. It just continued to gobble everything up around it getting to the size they are now, and finally ran out of food except for the occasional star or cloud snack.

Ref - CEERS Spectroscopic Confirmation of NIRCam-selected z ≳ 8 Galaxy Candidates with JWST/NIRSpec: Initial Characterization of Their Properties, https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/acd2d9, 05-June-2023. “Abstract We present JWST NIRSpec spectroscopy for 11 galaxy candidates with photometric redshifts of z ≃ 9 − 13 and MUV ∈ newly identified in NIRCam images in the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey. We confirm emission line redshifts for 7 galaxies at z = 7.762–8.998 using spectra at ∼1–5 μm either with the NIRSpec prism or its three medium-resolution (R ∼ 1000) gratings..."

My observation, none of these galaxies studied show metal free gas or the pristine gas said to be created during BBN and the pristine gas remaining until Population III stars started contributing metals to the early universe. Efforts are made to fit the observations into the chemical enrichment model using r-process and s-process for the galaxies seen and the larger redshifts reported. Using Ned Wright cosmology calculator, z=8.998, light-time distance 13.170 Gly, comoving radial distance = 30.718 Gly. Space expands at 2.1676656E+00 or about 2.168 x c velocity using H0 = 69 km/s/Mpc. The angular size distance maps to 4.567 kpc per 1 arcsecond. We do not see the galaxies or SMBH at the comoving radial distances or if the angular sizes map correctly to the 1 arcsecond scale used in the cosmology calculators. Explaining the origin of SMBH in large redshifts is challenging, whether 9 x 10^6 solar masses or in the 10^9 solar mass range or more. I read this report earlier too on this topic. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-webb-telescope-distant-supermassive-black.html
"...The team published several initial papers about CEERS Survey data in a special edition of The Astrophysical Journal Letters on July 6: "A CEERS Discovery of an Accreting Supermassive Black Hole 570 Myr after the Big Bang: Identifying a Progenitor of Massive z > 6 Quasars," led by Larson, "Hidden Little Monsters: Spectroscopic Identification of Low-Mass, Broad-Line AGN at z > 5 with CEERS," led by Kocevski, "Spectroscopic confirmation of CEERS NIRCam-selected galaxies at z≃8−10," led by Arrabal Haro, and "CEERS Spectroscopic Confirmation of NIRCam-Selected z ≳ 8 Galaxy Candidates with JWST/NIRSpec: Initial Characterization of their Properties," led by Fujimoto.”

There is recent discussion too on the forums concerning issues with BB model forming SMBH said to be observed. https://forums.space.com/threads/supermassive-black-holes-grow-surprisingly-quickly-study-suggests.62025/

Rod:

none of these galaxies studied show metal free gas or the pristine gas said to be created during BBN and the pristine gas remaining until Population III stars started contributing metals to the early universe.

Yes, a seeming absence of gas can be a problem. But it is hard to detect and other early observations have been on gas and even dust (metals).

In this case, different new studies of early quasars have just shown two cosmic filaments (so we have dark matter, at least). In one of the studies they found dust again:

The CEERS Survey is expansive, and there is much more to explore. Team member Dale Kocevski of Colby College in Waterville, Maine, and the team quickly spotted another pair of small black holes in the data. The first, within galaxy CEERS 2782, was easiest to pick out. There isn't any dust obscuring JWST's view of it, so researchers could immediately determine when its black hole existed in the history of the universe -- only 1.1 billion years after the big bang. The second black hole, in galaxy CEERS 746, existed slightly earlier, 1 billion years after the big bang. Its bright accretion disk, a ring made up of gas and dust that encircles its supermassive black hole, is still partially clouded by dust.

"The central black hole is visible, but the presence of dust suggests it might lie within a galaxy that is also furiously pumping out stars," Kocevski explained.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230706124536.htm
In another study they see the near universe black hole growth formation that rely on gas - though in an unexpected way:

For decades, astronomers have noticed that quasars and their host galaxies appear to grow together. This, despite the fact that even supermassive black holes don’t have the gravitational reach to affect much beyond their immediate surroundings. Perhaps, some theorized, a feeding black hole powers jets or winds or some other form of feedback that then regulates both its own growth and that of its host galaxy, so that the two grow in tandem. If that were the case, then we might expect that galaxies and the black holes they host would relate differently to each other over cosmic time as they interact.

However, Ding’s team found that, at least for the two quasars they examined, the relation between the black hole mass and galactic stellar mass is exactly what we observe in nearer quasars. (Interestingly, the more recently discovered CEERS quasar also matches this relation, even though it hails from even earlier times.)

Gebhardt says he’s surprised at the result. “It’s a really hard measurement to get the stellar mass, and my initial reaction when reading the abstract was to be skeptical,” he adds. “But have done a great job throughout.”

It could be that the supermassive black holes in these two galaxies have already powered feedback even at such early times. These two quasars might even be fast-evolving outliers that are not representative of the evolution of most galaxy–black hole pairs. While two data points aren’t enough to draw firm conclusions, there are many more early quasars awaiting JWST observation. Soon, our window on the early evolution of supermassive black holes will expand into a fuller picture.

https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/jwst-turns-its-eyes-on-supermassive-black-holes-and-the-galaxies-that-host-them/
Finally, Webb has uncovered supernovae contribution to dust:

Observations have shown astronomers that young, distant galaxies are full of dust, but these galaxies are not old enough for intermediate mass stars, like the Sun, to have supplied the dust as they age. More massive, short-lived stars could have died soon enough and in large enough numbers to create that much dust.

While astronomers have confirmed that supernovae produce dust, the question has lingered about how much of that dust can survive the internal shocks reverberating in the aftermath of the explosion. Seeing this amount of dust at this stage in the lifetimes of SN 2004et and SN 2017eaw suggests that dust can survive the shockwave -- evidence that supernovae really are important dust factories after all.

Researchers also note that the current estimations of the mass may be the tip of the iceberg. While Webb has allowed researchers to measure dust cooler than ever before, there may be undetected, colder dust radiating even farther into the electromagnetic spectrum that remains obscured by the outermost layers of dust.

The researchers emphasized that the new findings are also just a hint at newfound research capabilities into supernovae and their dust production using Webb, and what that can tell us about the stars from which they came.

"There's a growing excitement to understand what this dust also implies about the core of the star that exploded," Fox said. "After looking at these particular findings, I think our fellow researchers are going to be thinking of innovative ways to work with these dusty supernovae in the future."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230705143005.htm