CLEMSON — Eight billion light years from Earth, two cosmic titans are locked in a slow waltz at the heart of the galaxy. When they collide in 15,000 years, their merger will rock the universe. Scientists believe supermassive black holes lie at the center of every galaxy.
Containing between 100,000 and tens of billions times more mass than the sun, they become the brightest light source in the universe when surrounded by gas, and they generate gravitational waves that shape the evolution of space. Finding one black hole is a breathtaking discovery. Detecting two together — what scientists call a binary supermassive black hole — has long been just a theory, one scientists have been pursuing for years.
Story continues below Thanks to 100 years of data, Clemson University astrophysicists believe they have discovered such a system. Gas glows brightly in this computer simulation of supermassive black holes only 40 orbits from merging. Models like this may eventually help scientists pinpoint real examples of these powerful binary systems.
Compared to typical stellar-mass black holes that are up to 100 times bigger than our sun, supermassive black holes are ginormous. As galaxies merge as the universe evolves, it can result in two monstrous black holes that orbit one another and eventually join, forming one colossal black hole. "Before 2017, we knew these things existed, but we could not see them," said Marco Ajello, associate professor in Clemson's Department of Physics and As.