New images from the James Webb telescope show a galaxy with a trio of supermassive black holes. Two of them appear to be locked in a tight tango, suggesting they are on the verge of merging. The discovery, reported in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, reveals a system called SDSS J0849+1114 where three supermassive black holes interact.

The two closest are separated by just 750 light-years, an unusually small distance. This event is happening 10 billion light-years from Earth, in the early universe. The third black hole orbits even farther away.

Scientists believe such mergers were common in the early cosmos as galaxies collided. The Webb telescope's infrared capability allowed it to see through dust and capture precise positions and motions. The study confirms that black hole mergers can happen in less than 1 billion years after the Big Bang.

This finding helps explain how supermassive black holes grew so quickly.