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View of several telescopes from SDSS J084905.51 + 111447.2, a system of three fused galaxies discovered about 1 billion light-years from Earth. The system hosts three supermassive black holes on a collision course, reports a new study.
(Image Credit: X-Ray: NASA / CXC / George Mason University / R. Pfeifle et al; Optical: SDSS & NASA / STScI)
A rare trio of supermassif black holes was caught getting together.
Three light-hungry monsters mingle shoulder to shoulder in SDSS J084905.51 + 111447.2, a system of three mergers galaxies about 1 billion light-years away from Earth, reports a new study.
"We were only looking for pairs of black holes at the time, and yet, thanks to our selection technique, we came across this incredible system," said lead author Ryan Pfeifle, of the George Mason University in Virginia, said in a statement. "This is the strongest proof to date for a triple system of this type, which is actively feeding supermassive black holes."
Related, connected, related: Images: Black Holes of the Universe
Making the epic discovery was not easy; it took observations using multiple instruments and the help of many scientific citizens.
The journey began with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) telescope in New Mexico, which gave an image of SDSS J084905.51 + 111447.2 in optical light. Galaxy Zoo citizen-science volunteers then used these images to signal the system as an ongoing galaxy fusion.
The researchers then examined the data collected by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). WISE has detected a lot of infrared light emitted by the system during a phase of fusion during which more than one of the supermassive black holes should be rapidly accreting matter, the researchers said.
New observations on X-rays and optical light sealed the chord. From NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory detected strong x-ray sources near each of the centers of the fusing galaxies, indicating that large amounts of gas and dust were being consumed – a sign of black hole feeding.
NASA's Spectroscopic Nuclear Spectroscopic Array spacecraft, or NuSTAR, has also spotted traces of gas and dust surrounding one of the supermassive black holes. In addition, the optical light data collected by the SDSS and the large binocular telescope in Arizona further reinforced the idea that the three black holes were active.
"Through the use of these major observatories, we have identified a new way to identify the three supermassive black holes," said Pfeifle. Each telescope gives us a different clue about what's going on in these systems. We hope to extend our work to find more triples using the same technique. "
The distance between each supermassive black hole and its nearest neighbor ranges from 10,000 light-years to 30,000 light-years, said the study team members. But these areas will shrink, because the black holes are apparently bound to mergejust like their mother galaxies do now.
Astronomers already know a little more about how black holes collide; after all, the Laser gravitational wave interferometer observatory (LIGO) has detected the gravitational waves generated by several black hole mergers. But a triple system probably works a little differently compared to the traditional fusion duo, the researchers said.
For example, the presence near a third supermassive black hole should allow his two neighbors to meet much faster.
"This may be a solution to a theoretical riddle called" parsec's final problem, "in which two supermassive black holes can come within a few light-years of each other, but it would take an extra effort to blend in because of the energy that they carry on their orbits, "Chandra mission officials wrote in the same statement. "The influence of a third black hole, as in SDSS J0849 + 1114, could finally bring them together."
Moreover, neither LIGO nor the similar European project Virgo can detect the gravitational waves produced by the fusion of supermassive black holes. The frequencies concerned are outside the limits of LIGO and Virgo, which are tuned to the gravitational waves generated by much smaller black holes of star mass.
The new study appears in the latest issue of The astrophysical journal. You can read a pre-printing paper free on arXiv.org.
Mike Wall's book on the search for extraterrestrial life, "Over there"(Grand Central Publishing, 2018, illustrated by Karl Tate), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
(Image credit: All About Space magazine)
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