Astronomers say we may soon see one of the most-anticipated events in modern astronomy.
Changing measurements of light from the galaxy SDSS J1430+center 2303’s point to the possibility of a major collision between two supermassive black holes with a combined mass of about 200 million Suns, according to research.
A real-time collision of two very large black holes
If the scientists’ interpretations of the data are correct, the collision and the first picture of a black hole taken by the Event Horizon Telescope could be two of the most important events in modern astronomy. In this case, scientists’ data shows that the two black holes will merge within the next three years, which is a very short time in terms of scientific studies.
The results of the study can be found on the pre-print server ArXiv, and the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics has agreed to publish them.
The first black hole merger was found in 2015 because it sent ripples through space-time called gravitational waves. But the gravitational force from that collision was still felt years after it happened, and so were the results of later observations. Because of this, the collision at the center of SDSS J1430+2303 may be the first time astronomers have seen something like this happen.
In the lead-up to this cosmic disaster, there is one important thing to keep in mind. Our gravitational wave detectors can’t pick up supermassive black holes’ gravitational waves because they are too weak. So far, almost all black hole mergers have been found by Virgo and LIGO, which can both find ripples in the frequency made by binary black holes.
Astronomers expect to be able to see the huge amount of light coming from the event through other observatories, which will still be able to make light across the whole spectrum. If and when it happens, it could help us learn a lot more about how supermassive black holes form.
Even though there is some evidence that supermassive black holes form when two black holes merge, we still don’t fully understand how they get so big.
Astronomers will focus their observatories on the area of space where the galaxy J1429+2303 could soon see a catastrophic supermassive black hole collision. They will look at the data before and after the event to learn more about what it means and how it happened.