A depiction by an artist of a pair of black holes crashing together.(Image credit: Aurore Simonnet SSU/EdEon/LVK/URI)
Academics have identified a couple of instances of black holes combining, and they surmise that the larger component in each union is an uncommon “second-generation” veteran from a prior smashup.
The peculiar activity of the two bigger black holes, noticed via undulations in space-time termed gravitational waves, was detailed on Oct. 28 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
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The outcomes “deliver appealing proof that these black holes came to be through prior black hole merges,” stated study co-author Stephen Fairhurst, a Cardiff University professor in the U.K. and a representative for the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, in an announcement.
Back-to-back mergers
This analysis was predicated on a duo of freshly noticed integrations that transpired only about a month apart. Examining the gravitational wave traces from these events empowered the researchers to deduce the mass, spin, and separations of the black holes implicated.
During the initial event, transpiring on Oct. 11, 2024, researchers identified a pair of black holes — calculating to be six and 20 times the sun’s mass, respectively — colliding in an integration referred to as GW241011, approximately 700 million light-years from our planet. The larger black hole emerged as one of the quickest-spinning black holes ever documented.
The subsequent merger, GW241110, was discerned on Nov. 10, 2024, showcasing black holes that scaled to be eight and 17 times the sun’s mass. This merger existed at a farther range, approximately 2.4 billion light-years away. The larger black hole was also revolving contrary to its trajectory, a phenomenon that has never before been noted.
Scientists claim each of these merges held original attributes, notably that the bigger black hole in each instance was nearly twice the size of the smaller one, and that the larger black holes possessed odd spins compared to the hundreds of other merges perceived via gravitational waves in the time since the celebrated first detection by LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) in 2015.
The researchers proposed that the larger black hole in each merge had previously united in a process described as a “hierarchical merger,” which would come to pass in congested settings such as star clusters, where black holes would frequently draw near to one another.
“This ranks among our most thrilling discoveries thus far,” study co-author Jess McIver, an astrophysicist at the University of British Columbia, remarked in the announcement. “These incidents furnish compelling evidence that there are exceedingly dense, bustling segments of the cosmos pushing some dead stars together.”
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Aside from the probable second-generation black hole discoveries, scientists communicated that the two integrations corroborated physics laws projected by Albert Einstein over a century prior, and that these events are aiding scientists in gaining more knowledge of rudimentary particles.
As an illustration, GW241011 produced a distinct indication that permitted researchers to observe the larger black hole warping as it revolved, attributable to the black hole’s quick rotation. The ensuing trace in the gravitational waves synchronized with hypotheses from both Einstein, and from mathematician Roy Kerr, concerning rotating black holes.
That same event also generated a “hum” in the gravitational-wave indication, crafted due to the larger black hole being far more substantial than the smaller one. (The hum bears resemblance to musical instrument overtones, according to the collaborators.) This observation further served to validate predictions from Einstein.
Elizabeth HowellLive Science Contributor
Elizabeth Howell served as a staff writer at Space.com from 2022 to 2024 and was a frequent contributor to Live Science and Space.com between 2012 and 2022. Elizabeth’s reporting includes numerous exclusives with the White House, communicating with the International Space Station on several occasions, witnessing five human spaceflight launches across two continents, flying parabolic maneuvers, working within a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars expedition. Her most recent publication, “Why Am I Taller?” (ECW Press, 2022) is co-authored alongside astronaut Dave Williams.
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