Two telescopes have spotted the closest pair of supermassive black holes to date.
While black holes are invisible against the dark void of space, these two blaze brightly as the gas and dust they feed on is accelerated and heated to high temperatures.
Active galactic nuclei are supermassive black holes that release bright jets of material and high winds that can shape the very galaxies where they are found.
The black hole duo is the closest pair found through visible and X-ray light.
Astronomers discovered these black holes dancing around one another at the center of a pair of colliding galaxies called MCG-03-34-64, which is 800 million light-years away.
Astronomers serendipitously found the black holes when Hubble’s observations revealed three spikes of bright light within the glowing gas of a galaxy.
Falcão’s team took another look at the galactic region with Chandra in X-ray light.
The source of light might be from gas that was shocked by an energetic release of material from one of the black holes.
Astronomers have observed pairs of black holes that are closer together than these two through radio telescopes, but those duos haven’t been observed in other wavelengths of light.
Both supermassive black holes once served as the centers of their respective galaxies, but a galactic merger brought the two objects much closer together.
The closest pair of supermassive black holes discovered to date has been identified by two telescopes. NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope were used to observe the pair, who are only roughly 300 light-years apart, at various light wavelengths.
These two glow brilliantly because the gas and dust they eat is accelerated and heated to extremely high temperatures, while black holes are invisible against the pitch-black emptiness of space. Active galactic nuclei are the names given to these two circling celestial objects.
Supermassive black holes, known as active galactic nuclei, emit intense winds and brilliant material jets that have the power to sculpt the very galaxies in which they are found.
The nearest pair discovered with visible and X-ray light is the black hole pair. Although there have been prior observations of other black hole pairs, they are typically much farther apart. These black holes were found to be dancing around each other at the center of MCG-03-34-64, a pair of colliding galaxies located 800 million light-years away.
When Hubble’s observations uncovered three bright light spikes within a galaxy’s glowing gas, astronomers coincidentally discovered the black holes. The Astrophysical Journal released their discovery on Monday.
“This was not what we expected to see,” stated lead study author Anna Trindade Falcão, a postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics | Cambridge, Massachusetts. The observation indicates that there is activity within the galaxy, as it is uncommon in the nearby universe. “.
focusing in on brilliant cosmic lights.
When Hubble detected three optical diffraction spikes in a confined area of the MCG-03-34-64 galaxy, the team was intrigued. When light from a tiny cosmic region bends around the mirror inside telescopes, diffraction spikes are visible.
Astronomers weren’t sure what they were seeing when Hubble made his observations in optical light, which is visible to the human eye. Falcão and colleagues examined the galactic region once more using Chandra in X-ray light.
Chandra observations of the galaxy allowed the scientists to identify two strong X-ray light sources that corresponded to the optical light sources that Hubble had identified, according to Falcão. Combining these facts, we were probably looking at two supermassive black holes that were quite close to one another. “.
The group also reviewed radio wave data gathered by the Karl G. Near Socorro, New Mexico, is the Jansky Very Large Array of radio telescopes. It was also discovered that the pair of black holes released powerful radio waves.
Several factors can be ruled out when looking at bright light in the optical, X-ray, and radio wavelengths, leading one to conclude that close black holes are the only possible explanation. The image of the (active galactic nuclei) pair is what you get when you put all the pieces together, according to Falcão.
In the meantime, the team needs more information to identify the third diffraction spike that Hubble has seen. The gas that was shocked by an intense material release from one of the black holes could be the source of the light.
Without Hubble’s incredible resolution, Falcão stated, “we wouldn’t be able to see all of these intricacies.”.
Although they haven’t been seen in other light wavelengths, radio telescope observations of black hole pairs that are closer together than these two have been made.
After a galactic merger, the two supermassive black holes were much closer to each other than when they were the centers of their separate galaxies. NASA estimates that in roughly 100 million years, their close spiral will culminate in a merger that will release gravitational waves, or ripples in the fabric of space and time, with great energy.
