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Research Spotlight: UF Astrophysicist Aids in Discover at the Heart of a Galactic Merger

May 4, 2023

A dark secret has been uncovered: Not one, but two supermassive black holes hide in the dusty chaos of a pair of merging galaxies. The colossal duo swirls together at the heart of the collision, a mere 750 light-years apart. While the distance may sound like a far stretch, this is the first time that scientists have observed two of these monstrous objects at multiple wavelengths in such proximity to one another. As the Milky Way galaxy faces an impending merger with neighboring Andromeda, the findings offer a revolutionary chance to explore our own fate. The new research also reveals that these pairs of black holes — and the colliding galaxies that host them — may be more commonplace throughout the Universe than previously understood. The results of the study, co-authored by UF astrophysicist LAURA BLECHA, were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and presented at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Seattle, Washington. Although black holes continue to challenge discovery, Blecha hopes the newly released findings will pave the way for scientists to untangle some of the most mind-bending mysteries of the Universe — and ultimately push the limits of our understanding of space and time.

Read the full article here: https://news.clas.ufl.edu/black-hole-discovery/

 
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