Scientists using the XMM-Newton space observatory have discovered a pair of supermassive black holes in the galaxy SDSS J120136.02 + 300305.5, located two billion light years from Earth.
Experts from China, Germany and the United States have discovered in the galaxy SDSS J120136.02 + 300305.5, which is located at a distance of 2 billion light years from Earth, a connected pair of supermassive black holes orbiting a common center of mass. The average distance between objects is comparable to the size of the solar system. The main black hole has a mass of about a million solar masses.
A pair of supermassive black holes was found using the orbiting X-ray telescope XMM-Newton during a regular space scan. The gravity of one of the black holes disrupted gas accretion onto the other. Irregularities in X-rays have allowed objects to be interpreted as a pair of linked black holes.
The evolution of an open pair of black holes, according to scientists, will end with its merger into one hole
The study of such objects allows you to observe the collision and interaction of galaxies. Among other things, the merger of black holes is a source of powerful gravitational radiation in the universe.