NASA have captured the “most distant” black hole merger ever obtained but you’ll need the eyes of an eagle to spot it.
Recent images released by an international team of astronomers marks the first time this phenomenon has been detected so early in the Universe.
With masses of millions to billions times that of the Sun in most massive galaxies in the local Universe, these black holes have likely had a major impact on the evolution of the galaxies they reside in.
However, scientists are still baffled over how these objects grew to become so massive.
Through the use of the James Webb Space Telescope, evidence has been provided for an ongoing merger of two galaxies and their massive black holes in a system known as ZS7.
The European Space Agency claims they provide data from when the Universe was just 740 million years old.
Images now show evidence of the two black holes that have merged together, having come so close to each other’s orbit.
However, they have been made visible through the illumination of hot highly ionised gas by energetic radiuation.
Appearing as a tiny red spec amongst other bright sparks in the universe, it is incredibly hard to spot.
You’ll certainly need the eyes of an eagle to stand any chance of identifying it.
But thanks to the unprecedented sharpness of its imaging capabilities, the James Webb Space Telescope has just about managed to provide a close-up of the black hole mergers.
One of the black holes is slightly more visible than the other, as it has a mass that is 50 million times that of the sun.
But three separate images help to highlights the stunning phenomenon.
ESA team member Roberto Maiolino of the University of Cambridge and University College London in the United Kingdom, said the second black hole is harder to measure because it is buried in dense gas.
Lead author Hannah Übler, of the University of Cambridge, said: “Our findings suggest that merging is an important route through which black holes can rapidly grow, even at cosmic dawn.
“Together with other Webb findings of active, massive black holes in the distant Universe, our results also show that massive black holes have been shaping the evolution of galaxies from the very beginning.”
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Black hole mergers
A BLACK hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light can not get out.
In some cases, however, it is possible for two black holes to collide.
Known as a binary black hole, it is a system consisting of two black holes in close orbit around each other.
Once they come so close that they cannot escape each other’s gravity, they will merge to become one bigger black hole.
Once the two black holes merge, they will generate gravitational waves.
Findings suggest that merging is an important route through which black holes can rapidly grow.
Astronomers have recently found supermassive black holes with masses of millions to billions times that of the Sun in most massive galaxies in the local Universe.
The team found that one of the two black holes has a mass that is 50 million times the mass of the Sun.
Roberto Maiolino of the University of Cambridge and University College London explained how the mass of the other black hole “is likely similar”.
However, it is “much harder to measure” because this second black hole is buried in dense gas, he adds.