AsianScientist (May 9, 2014) – An international team of scientists are first to identify an astronomical object in space known as the supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB), shedding light on how galaxies evolve into their present-day shapes and sizes.
Galaxies are massive and gravitationally bound systems that comprise stars, gases, dust and dark matter. Most galaxies contain a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at their centers and could be active or quiescent. The SMBHs of quiescent galaxies are fueled by sporadic and unpredictable tidal disruption events (TDEs).
The team, which was led by Liu Fukun, Professor of the Department of Astronomy and member of The Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Peking University, discovered that a 2010 TDE could be explained using an astrophysical model that identifies a pair of mutually orbiting SMBHs – also called a SMBHB.
The research, which was recently published in The Astrophysical Journal, looked at data from a TDE that had occurred in a quiescent galaxy named SDSS J120136.02+300305.5. While X-ray spillages had been detected during the TDE, they fell below detectable levels for about 20 days before being re-detected again.
By applying the model to analyze the galaxy’s behavior, the team was able to identify and quantitatively describe a SMBHB. In particular, the measurements of the SMBHB were described in their publication to be “in good agreement with the observation.”
“This is exactly what you would expect from a pair of supermassive black holes orbiting one another,” says Professor Liu.
Pairs of SMBHs are thought to be indicative of galaxy mergers, a subject-matter that scientists believe will contribute insights into the way galaxies evolve.
The article can be found at: Liu et al. (2014) A milliparsec supermassive black hole binary candidate in the galaxy SDSS J120136.02+300305.5.
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Source: The Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics.
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