Disir
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Astronomers have measured the motions of a tight pair of supermassive black holes, separated by just 24 light-years in a nearby galaxy.
Galaxies crash together all the time, cosmologically speaking. We see these far-off collisions in the night sky, and we can even calculate our own galaxy’s fate in a massive mash-up with the neighboring Andromeda Galaxy.
The effect of galactic collisions on stars is fantastic, as the galaxies’ gravitational interactions send their stellar members into streams and swirls. But the effect on the supermassive black holes that lurk in the center of most large galaxies is still more awesome, as multiple forces bring the two behemoths closer together until they ultimately coalesce.
Yet, even though black holes are a dime a dozen and galactic collisions commonplace, supermassive black hole pairs have been surprisingly difficult to find. Despite measurements of thousands of galaxies, astronomers have found exactly one close pair of supermassive black holes, separated by only 24 light-years (less than a Kessel Run), at the center of a galaxy dubbed 0402+379.
Now, graduate student Karishma Bansal (University of New Mexico) and colleagues have measured the motions of this pair using radio observations that span 12 years. The results are published in the July 1st Astrophysical Journal.
Supermassive Black Holes Observed in Close Dance - Sky & Telescope
But we don't get to see it here.
Galaxies crash together all the time, cosmologically speaking. We see these far-off collisions in the night sky, and we can even calculate our own galaxy’s fate in a massive mash-up with the neighboring Andromeda Galaxy.
The effect of galactic collisions on stars is fantastic, as the galaxies’ gravitational interactions send their stellar members into streams and swirls. But the effect on the supermassive black holes that lurk in the center of most large galaxies is still more awesome, as multiple forces bring the two behemoths closer together until they ultimately coalesce.
Yet, even though black holes are a dime a dozen and galactic collisions commonplace, supermassive black hole pairs have been surprisingly difficult to find. Despite measurements of thousands of galaxies, astronomers have found exactly one close pair of supermassive black holes, separated by only 24 light-years (less than a Kessel Run), at the center of a galaxy dubbed 0402+379.
Now, graduate student Karishma Bansal (University of New Mexico) and colleagues have measured the motions of this pair using radio observations that span 12 years. The results are published in the July 1st Astrophysical Journal.
Supermassive Black Holes Observed in Close Dance - Sky & Telescope
But we don't get to see it here.