For the first time ever, scientists have directly spotted a pair of supermassive black holes orbiting each other, a new study suggests.
This orbital motion — which was noted in observations made over the course of a dozen years — may be the smallest-ever movement detected of an object across the sky, the researchers said.
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The presence of these giant black holes so close together suggested that the galaxy in which they lie resulted from dozens of galaxies merging sometime in the past, the researchers said. This raises the possibility that the two black holes themselves might one day merge also, the scientists said. More.
Better than fireworks. Happy Fourth of July to all.
See also: Dark energy made by black holes
Josh Valenzuela/University of New Mexico