It isn’t unusual for two back holes to get close to each other. They may be offspring of a binary star system, or simply may be orbiting close together after a random encounter.
Galaxies typically have only one black hole, so when their galaxies merge, the black holes must merge as well. But getting black holes to merge is difficult because of something called the parsec problem, which relates to the weakness of gravitational waves.
A new paper, however, suggests a new way for black holes to merge. It has to do with supermassive black holes and how the binary black holes that surround them tend to migrate inward until they are in position to merge.
To watch on a separate page click Black Holes Merging. If you want more beautiful Space.com space videos just let the player keep playing…
Key Takeaways:
- Black holes merge surprisingly often, mostly by getting caught by a supermassive neighbor.
- A new paper suggests a new method by which these black holes might be merging.
- The method requires on a specific orbit to happen, but that orbit happens quite often.
“But usually, each galaxy has only one giant black hole, telling us that if galaxies merge, then so too must their black holes.”
Read more: https://www.space.com/dancing-black-holes-merge
Reference:
- Space.com (Website)
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