Quasars, our 'cosmic signposts,' can reveal path to hidden supermassive black hole pairs

Dual Blackhole (Representative Image - Canva)

Quasars, brilliant beacons in the cosmic sea, could act as our celestial GPS for finding elusive pairs of 'cosmic titans' supermassive black holes. These titans have masses millions or even billions of times that of our sun and reside at the hearts of most large galaxies.

However, detecting these pairs of supermassive black holes is harder because they are very rare and result from the collision of galaxies after which they merge and form black holes.

This proves that several supermassive black holes are hidden and they are yet to be discovered. According to recent research, Quasars are powered by supermassive black holes.

This could provide compelling evidence for the existence of supermassive black holes. According to the research team, quasars in galaxies are seven times more likely to host binary supermassive black holes compared to other galaxies.

These findings will help scientists know about gravitational waves, according to the Space.com conversation with the research lead author Andrew Casey-Clyde, a doctoral candidate at the University of Connecticut, shared that "These findings are useful for targeted searches for supermassive black hole binaries, in which we search specific galaxies and quasars for continuous gravitational waves from individual supermassive black hole binaries, " further adding he said,  Our results mean that these targeted searches will be up to seven times more likely to find gravitational waves from a supermassive black hole binary in a quasar than in a random massive galaxy."

Quasars can be great cosmic detectives as studying them can help enhance our search for supermassive black hole binaries using gravitational waves. These waves might work as cosmic whispers, revealing the secrets of colliding black holes.

When supermassive black holes' host galaxies merge with other galaxies of comparable size, the supermassive black holes frequently become active and become quasars. A new supply of gas and dust is directed toward the black hole by these galactic collisions, which function as cosmic delivery services.

The black hole is fueled by this material inflow, which allows it to produce a quasar. Furthermore, these mergers have the ability to create binary supermassive black hole systems by bringing two supermassive black holes close together.

Quasars with repeating light output might be the signs of a supermassive black hole binary according to the stimulations that suggested these findings. The NANOGrav pulsar array detected the faint signal of background gravitational waves that revealed the supermassive black hole binary population along with the population of quasars.

Some of the supermassive black holes feed on the gas disks that formed with flattened clouds of gas and dust as they provide matter to them. The immense gravitational pull of supermassive black holes generates powerful tidal forces within their accretion disks. The force results in the creation of heat that makes the surrounding material produce light.

The process of galactic mergers and the subsequent feeding of supermassive black holes are significant for understanding the growth and evolution of galaxies.