Many “monster hearts” from ancient galaxies have merged into the most terrifying objects ever observed by astronomers.
The pair of “dark monsters” is located about 750 million light-years away and was identified by a research team led by astrophysicist Tirth Surti from Stanford University (USA) using data from the Gemini North Observatory (located in Hawaii, USA).
They are the largest and heaviest supermassive black hole pair ever recorded, with an extremely wild formation history, according to Science Alert.
“Double heart” of the giant galaxy B2 0402+379 – (Photo: SCITECH DAILY).
A supermassive black hole, often referred to as a “monster black hole”, is a massive black hole found at the center of galaxies.
Sagittarius A*, located in our Milky Way galaxy, is an example. It is also a “monster of monsters” with a mass about 4.3 million times that of the Sun. However, it is still too small compared to what Gemini North has just recorded.
The pair of black holes discussed in the recently published study in the scientific journal The Astrophysical Journal is the “heart” of the aging, massive galaxy B2 0402+379.
While each of them individually is not the heaviest supermassive black hole known, their rare appearance as a “double” is fascinating and noteworthy.
With a total mass 28 billion times that of the Sun, it is the greatest “double heart” ever recorded in a galaxy.
“Double heart” holds significant importance in cosmology: it is evidence of a recent merger. Mergers of black holes often represent the final stage in the merging of two galaxies.
Interestingly, data on B2 0402+379 indicate that it is the remnant of an entire galaxy cluster.
This means B2 0402+379 was once an area where many aging galaxies gathered, gradually consuming each other until only a single entity remained, which is the galaxy we are observing today.
Thus, the double monster black holes that scientists have recorded are the products of countless ancient monster black holes merging into a single super-monster.
Currently, these two supermassive black holes are located very close to each other – only 24 light-years apart – a short distance compared to these massive cosmic entities.
However, it is possible that this final merger has been “stuck” for about 3 million years, as signals indicate that the orbital decay of the two black holes has halted long ago.
Perhaps the orbital decay of these two monsters was so powerful that it pushed all stars out of their vicinity, leaving no stars for them to transfer their orbital momentum to.
Therefore, this pair may never fully merge like the rest of the galaxy.
But it is also possible that a future factor could drive these two monsters to merge, such as another galaxy rushing towards B2 0402+379, merging, and sending a third black hole to the group.
