For the first time, astronomers have captured a clear image of two black holes circling each other, confirming decades of predictions about such cosmic duos. The rare find offers the first visual proof of orbiting black hole pairs, a milestone in understanding how galaxies evolve.
What did astronomers see in the image?
The pair was detected through faint radio light signals collected by telescopes on Earth and in space. Locked in a 12-year dance, the black holes lie nearly 5 billion light-years away. The smaller one emits a twisting jet of near-light-speed particles, while the larger, known as the blazar OJ287, weighs about 18 billion times more than our Sun. The study was published on 9 October in The Astrophysical Journal.
“We managed to get an image of two black holes circling each other,” said lead author Mauri Valtonen from the University of Turku in Finland. “They are visible through the powerful jets and glowing gas surrounding them.”
How did scientists confirm the pair’s existence?
For decades, astronomers suspected that OJ287 hosted two black holes, but previous telescopes could not distinguish the pair from a single bright point. The latest image, captured using a network of radio telescopes that includes Russia’s RadioAstron satellite, provided the needed clarity.
“The satellite’s radio antenna extended halfway to the Moon, greatly improving resolution,” Valtonen explained. Earlier, only Earth-based telescopes were available, and their limited view blurred the two sources together. By comparing new images with past predictions, the researchers confirmed two distinct jet sources exactly where the theory expected them to be.
Why is this discovery significant?
Black holes form when massive stars collapse and grow by consuming nearby material. When they draw in gas and dust, the friction produces visible light, forming active galactic nuclei. The most powerful of these are quasars and blazars, which shine billions of times brighter than ordinary stars.
The new image not only confirms that OJ287 contains two orbiting black holes but also supports earlier evidence of black hole mergers detected through gravitational waves. These pairs help scientists trace how galaxies and their central black holes evolve over cosmic time.
What comes next for researchers?
Although the results strongly support the dual-black-hole theory, astronomers caution that overlapping jets might still complicate the picture. Future high-resolution imaging could reveal more details, especially the motion of the smaller black hole’s jet, described as “wagging like a tail”.
“When we regain the resolution of RadioAstron in future missions, we’ll be able to confirm that motion,” the researchers noted. For now, the image stands as the clearest look yet at one of the universe’s most mysterious cosmic dances.
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