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About 900 million years ago, a black hole probably engulfed a dead star. Last week, ripples in space and time were finally detected on Earth.
If these scientific observations are confirmed, the cosmic collision would be the first example of collision between a black hole and a neutron star, possibly offering new perspectives on the expansion of the universe.
In April, gravitational wave observatories in the United States and Europe revived the search for extreme cosmic events. Astronomers have since detected 23 potential events, but the latest one would be the first of its kind.
The event, called S190814bv, was detected Wednesday by two LIGO detectors at the US observatory (gravitational wave interferometer) and the Virgo detector in Italy. Scientists observed ripples in space-time, suggesting that they could have occurred if a black hole swallowed a neutron star.
A neutron star is created as a result of a supernova explosion. It is extremely small and dense and consists mainly of highly compacted neutrons. An average neutron star is about 1.5 times the mass of the sun, but its radius is only 6 to 12 miles.
In the last few months, three other similar events have been detected, but it is possible that they are "noise" rather than actual events. In the case of S190814bv, scientists said the risk of the signal being a false alarm was one trillion billion years.
Although scientists have the most confidence, they continue to urge caution until the event is confirmed. For example, the collision could have been a fusion of two black holes – an exciting discovery of a black hole lighter than ever.
"There is a slight but intriguing possibility that the swallowed object is a very light black hole, much lighter than any other black hole in the known universe," said Professor Susan Scott, head of the group of theory of general relativity and data analysis at Australian National University and principal investigator of the ARC Center of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery. "It would be a truly impressive consolation prize."
Carl Knox / OzGrav Center of Excellence ARC
Astronomers are now trying to confirm the size of the two objects that crashed to form cosmic ripples. They also scan the area where the telescopes are located where they believe the event occurred, looking for the light that might have been emitted by the merger.
LIGO detected for the first time gravitational waves in 2015, a century after Albert Einstein, had predicted their existence with his general theory of relativity.
LIGO and Virgo have since detected black holes getting confused and neutron stars merging, but never an interaction between the two. The confirmation of the collision would complete a trio of cosmic detections.
"We will see a neutron star being torn by a black hole or swallowed whole, as if Pac-Man was swallowing a ghost," said Simon Stevenson, astronomer at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia. "In any case, let's do a show!"
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