LONDON: Scientists say that black hole binaries – or a pair of black holes orbiting each other – aren’t just to be found in the pages of your favorite science fiction novel – at least not any more.
The idea of a binary black hole system has been theorized for years, which in turn has captured the imaginations of filmmakers and authors for quite some time. However, new information uncovered by a team of astronomers from the University of Maryland at College Park points to the existence of black hole binaries in the real world – and that they’re created when a pair of galaxies merge together. With the majority of the galaxies in the universe harboring a massive black hole in their centers, these galactic mergers – which happen routinely enough – could all have the potential to from binary black hole systems.
Direct evidence of such a theory was a bit thin on the ground until the astronomers from the University of Maryland observed unique gravitational waves being given off by these black holes. According to Einstein’s theory of general relativity this is one of the telltale signs of the formation of a black hole binary.
The nascent binary system, which is known by the unwieldy classification of PSO J334.2028+01.4075, is believed to be close to the end of the galactic merger of the two galaxies according to researcher Tingting Liu, who was one of the authors of the study the scientists published regarding their discovery.
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