Astronomers spot supermassive black holes spiraling toward cataclysmic collision

By Mark Waghorn via SWNS

Two supermassive black holes spiraling toward a cataclysmic collision have been detected by astronomers.

The black holes are the closest pair ever discovered and will eventually merge into one colossal cosmic abyss.

The couple lie 89 million light-years away in the constellation of Aquarius. They are just 1,600 light-years apart.

Lead author Dr. Karina Voggel, of the University of Strasbourg, said: "They have a much smaller separation than any other previously spotted pair of supermassive black holes.

"They will eventually merge into one giant black hole."

It will send out gravitational waves - ripples in space and time predicted in Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity.

The bigger black hole was found to have a mass almost 154 million times that of the Sun.

It is located right at the core of its galaxy, known as NGC 7727. Its companion is 6.3 million solar masses.

Each is at the center of dense groups of bright stars captured by ESO's (European Space Obervatory's) Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile.

Dr. Voggel said: "The two black holes are on a collision course and form the closest pair of supermassive black holes found to date.

"It is also the pair with the smallest separation between two supermassive black holes found to date - observed to be just 1,600 light-years apart in the sky."

The international team calculated their size from the gravitational pull of the stars around them.

It was made possible thanks to the close proximity of the system to Earth.

A scanner called MUSE (Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer) mounted on the telescope and Hubble data confirmed the supermassive black holes.

Dr. Voggel said: "Our finding implies there might be many more of these relics of galaxy mergers out there.

"They may contain many hidden massive black holes that still wait to be found.

"It could increase the total number of supermassive black holes known in the local universe by 30 percent."

Black holes are the strangest objects in the universe - regions of space where matter has collapsed in on itself.

Their gravitational pull is so great nothing can escape - not even light.

The search for similarly hidden supermassive black hole pairs is set to make a great leap forward with ESO's Extremely Large Telescope (ELT).

It is also being built in the Atacama Desert just 12 miles from the VLT - and is due to be in operation before the end of the decade.

Co-author Dr. Steffen Mieske said: "This detection of a supermassive black hole pair is just the beginning.

"With the HARMONI instrument on the ELT, we will be able to make detections like this considerably further than currently possible."

He added: "ESO's ELT will be integral to understanding these objects."

The black holes are described in Astronomy & Astrophysics.