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The unexpected trio of black holes has been discovered through many observations of the universe, including NASA's Chandra X-Ray observatory. Astronomers originally wanted to study pairs of black holes, but were pleasantly surprised to find three people so close to each other. The three black holes are supermassive, which means that they are hundreds of thousands, even billions of times heavier than our Sun. According to Chandra astronomers at NASA and Harvard University, this discovery is the best evidence to date of the triplet fusion.
Ryan Pfeifle of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia said, "At the time, we were only looking for pairs of black holes, and yet, thanks to our selection technique, we are fell on this incredible system.
"This is the strongest proof to date for a triple system of this type, which is actively feeding supermassive black holes."
Until now, scientists have seen examples of collision between two black holes and their fusion into larger bodies.
The fusion of three supermassive black holes was considered an extremely rare event.
The discovery could now open the door to understanding the birth of the biggest black holes in the universe.
READ MORE: Astronomers name the historic black hole "unfathomable creation of darkness"
Black hole collisions: astronomers found a system of three black holes colliding (Image: GETTY)
Black hole collisions: Supermassive black holes can be billions of times heavier than the sun (Image: GETTY)
The trio of black holes was found one billion light years from the planet Earth.
Astronomers have dubbed the system of black holes SDSS J084905.51 + 111447.2 or SDSS J0849 + 1114.
This is the strongest evidence ever found for such a triple system
The system was first spotted using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) telescope in New Mexico, United States.
Once the system was imaged, citizen scientists working on the Galaxy Zoo project rated SDSS J0849 + 1114 in a cluster of colliding galaxies.
NASA's wide-field infrared research explorer then intervened to study the infrared light emitted by black holes.
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Astronomers then made observations with the Chandra Telescope and the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) in Arizona.
Chandra's contribution revealed powerful X-rays emanating from the system, which proved that black holes absorbed materials.
Additional observations made by NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopy Telescope Network (NuSTAR) have revealed vast amounts of stellar gas and dust around one of the black holes.
Christina Manzano-King, co-author of the University of California Riverside study, said, "Optical spectrums contain a wealth of information about a galaxy.
"They are commonly used to identify supermassive black holes that actively accumulate and can reflect the impact they have on the galaxies they inhabit."
READ MORE: The sound of a black hole is revealed and he sings in B flat
Black hole collisions: the best proof to date of the fusion of black hole triplets (Image: NASA / CXC / George Mason Univ / Pfeifle // SDSS & NASA / STScI / et.al.)
Black hole collisions: interesting facts about black holes (Image: EXPRESS)
Supermassive black holes like the trio are usually hard to find.
The black holes surround it with gas and dust like a shroud that masks them to terrestrial telescopes.
However, infrared and X-ray observatories can directly scan cloud clouds by selecting radiation signatures and invisible wavelengths of light.
Dr. Mason, a PhD student, thinks this discovery will help other astronomers locate more triple black holes in the universe.
He said: "We hope to expand our work to find more triples using the same technique."
What is the size of black holes? What types of black holes are there?
Black holes are classified into three categories: primordial, stellar and supermassive black holes.
Astronomers also suspect the existence of a fourth category, of medium size, called intermediate black holes.
The primitive black holes are the smallest of the group, they do not exceed the size of an atom but weigh more than one mountain.
Black cashier holes are the most common type and usually weigh up to 20 times more than the sun in an area of only 10 miles (4.8 km).
Supermassive black holes are the largest and heavier, weighing millions of times more than the Sun in an area the size of the solar system.
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