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According to scientists, a black hole swallowing a neutron star was probably detected.
The Australian National University (ANU), which participated in the research, explains that "the cataclysmic event" was detected on August 14, 2019 by gravitational wave discovery devices in the United States and Italy. The machines have detected ripples in the space and time of an event occurring at about 8,550 billion kilometers from the Earth, said the ANU in a statement.
"Neutron stars and black holes are the super-dense remains of dead stars," he says, noting that scientists are still studying the data to determine the size of the two objects.
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"About 900 million years ago, this black hole ate a very dense star, known as a neutron star, like Pac-man – probably instantly smothering the star," said Professor Susan Scott, responsible for the theory of general relativity and data analysis. UNA Group and Chief Researcher at the Australian Council for Research's Excellence Center for Gravitational Wave (OzGrav) Discovery, in the statement.
Artist's view of a black hole about to swallow a neutron star.
(Credit: Carl Knox, OzGrav Center of Excellence ARC)
Early discoveries suggest "a very high probability" that a black hole devours a neutron star, according to the ANU. "Scientists have never detected a black hole lower than five solar masses or a neutron star greater than about 2.5 times the mass of our Sun," Scott said. "From this experience, we are convinced that we have just detected a black hole engulfing a neutron star."
However, Scott also recognized the slight possibility that the object swallowed was "a very slight black hole".
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The gravitational wave observatory at Advanced Laser Interferometer (LIGO), operated by Caltech and the MIT, detected the event, as did its sister installation of the Virgin, located near Pisa, in Italy.
LIGO uses identical detector sites in the state of Washington and Louisiana to function as a single "observatory". Virgo is located on the site of the European Gravitational Observatory (EGO).
In a separate project, scientists released the very first image of a black hole earlier this year, revealing the distant object in breathtaking detail.
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The groundbreaking discovery was made by Event Horizon Telescope, an international project involving telescopes around the world that describes itself as a "virtual telescope of the size of the Earth". Telescopes in Hawaii, Arizona, Chile, Mexico, Spain and the South Pole participated in an ambitious research project.
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The black hole was spotted in the Messier 87 (M87) galaxy, 55 million light-years away. A light-year, measuring distance in space, equates to 6,000 billion kilometers.
Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers
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