Scientists think they detected the first known triple black hole system in the universe — and then watched it die
Chinese astronomers may have discovered a triple black holes system never seen.
The team identified this triplet, which is locked in a complex “waltz”, after having spotted a supermassive black hole hidden in the background of a event of particular gravitational waves Detected first six years ago.
In 2019, the observatory with gravitational laser interferential waves based in the United States (Ligo) detected a series of low undulations in the fabric of space-time, called gravitational waves. They seemed to be cleared by the distant fusion of two black holes Located somewhere between 544 and 912 light years from the earth. The cosmic collision, nicknamed GW190814, was particularly remarkable due to the size of the merged singularities, which weighed 23 and 2.6 solar masses respectively.
Normally, the fusion of black holes has a mass similar to each other because it creates the right type of gravitational friction so that they meet. At the time, GW190814 was the “most unequal mass ratio even measured with gravitational waves”, according to a 2020 study of the event. Scientists were particularly surprised by the size of the smaller singularityWhich is just massive enough to be considered a black hole.
In a new study, published on July 21 Astrophysical newspaper lettersAstronomers proposed that this unequal fusion was caused by a third hidden object which provided the gravitational kick necessary for the two mismatched black holes to collit and turn into a single entity, despite their significant difference.
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The team used simulations to predict how this interaction would influence the gravitational waves generated by fusion, and identified a unique “digital imprint” signal associated with the hidden object. They then reanalyzed the Ligo data of the initial discovery and found that this fingerprint signal was in fact present.
“This is the first international discovery of clear evidence of a third compact object in a binary black hole fusion event”, co-author of the study Wen-Biao HanA astronomer from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in a statement. “It reveals that the binary black holes of GW190814 may not have been formed in isolation but were part of a more complex gravitational system.”
Based on the simulations, the team believes that the most likely identity of the hidden compact object is a supermassive black hole. They do not yet know how large this giant can be, but the lower limit for supermassive black holes is around 100,000 solar masses, which suggests that it is at least massive – and makes it much larger than the other two objects initially identified in the system.
The smallest pair of merger black holes was probably part of a binary system that danted around the supermassive black hole while they turned around each other, similar to the way the earth and the moon turn each other during their collective trip around the sun. This is the first time that this configuration has been observed in a black hole system.
The newly formed black hole of the merger will probably continue to dance around its Supermassive partner for billions of years before being finally swallowed by the larger object, added the team.
The new discoveries provide not only “significant information on the training routes for binary black holes”, but also provide a new way of identifying other hidden giants hidden in the background of other black holes as unequal, Han said.
Since Ligo detected the very first gravitational waves in 2015, the observatory identified more than 100 events of additional gravitational waves, most of which were caused by black hole mergers. Each new detection provides more data than scientists can use to discover new secrets on the most massive objects in the universe, which are notoriously difficult to study.
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