Black holes are born from the collapse of giant stars and grow by devouring anything that comes too close, be it gas, dust, stars or other black holes. However, where the first black holes formed is still a mystery.
Past simulations of the first billion years of the universe show black holes were born from clouds of cold gas and dust that billowed and coalesced. Then they turn into very massive stars and will collapse quickly.
After birth, this black hole grows larger, trailing a cloud of gas around it. Eventually, the black hole collapsed into the first stars in the dwarf galaxy.
Astronomers theorize that as the universe expanded, black holes in dwarf galaxies quickly merged with the galaxies. This phenomenon gives rise to even larger supermassive black holes.
Astronomers searched archives of data collected by the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii to find the pair of black holes. Using the telescope’s spectrograph (GMOS) to break starlight into different colors, astronomers discovered light coming from the Sun traveling around the black hole.
This led astronomers to B2 0402+379 – a “fossil cluster” that formed when an entire galaxy cluster of stars and gas merged into one giant galaxy. When a pair of black holes gets close enough, scientists believe gravitational waves will carry enough energy that the two battling monsters will slow down and merge.
However, scientists have never observed two black holes doing this. Meanwhile, the merger of the black hole B2 0402+379 has been stalled for the last 3 billion years.
Researchers believe this pair of giant black holes is so massive that nothing can slow it down.
2024-03-14 18:00:00
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